HONG KONG, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) reported one additional case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 on Tuesday.
The case involved a 50-year-old male arriving in Hong Kong from Tanzania, South Africa and Kenya on Dec. 10 and he tested positive during the seven-day compulsory quarantine at the designated quarantine facility (Penny's Bay Quarantine Center).
So far, eight cases involving Omicron have been detected in Hong Kong. As they were all detected at the Hong Kong International Airport restricted area, at a designated quarantine facility or at a designated quarantine hotel, there has not been a spread of the Omicron variant in the community, said a spokesman for the CHP.
The CHP will adopt the most stringent prevention and control measures to prevent the mutant strain from entering the local community, the spokesman said.
The CHP also reported five additional imported cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, taking the total tally of confirmed cases in the financial hub to 12,495.
A total of 60 cases have been reported in the past 14 days and all were imported, according to the CHP.
Since the launch of the government inoculation program in late February, around 4.81 million people, or 71.5 percent of the eligible population, have taken at least one shot of the vaccine, while around 4.58 million, or 68.1 percent, are fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, a total of 273,854 people have taken the booster shot in Hong Kong as of 7:00 p.m. local time Tuesday.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government expects the third-dose vaccination to cover about 1.86 million people. Enditem
