Hong Kong, Jan 23 (IANS): Hong Kong reported 26 new cases of Covid-19 over the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 13,146, according to data from the Center for Health Protection.

The newly reported cases on Saturday consist of one imported case, 19 cases epidemiologically linked with imported cases, three local cases, and three cases epidemiologically linked with local cases, Xinhua news agency reported.

Twenty-five of the cases involve mutant strains, and the mutation test result of one case is pending, the center said.

Meanwhile, the whole genome sequencing analysis of 11 cases announced earlier confirmed they all carried the Omicron variant of Covid-19, bringing the total number of Omicron infections to 517 in Hong Kong.

Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, told a press conference on Saturday that Hong Kong residents should avoid unnecessary gatherings recently, and those who have not been vaccinated should get vaccinated as soon as possible.

Since the launch of a mass inoculation programme in February 2021, about 5.23 million people, or 77.7 per cent of the eligible population, have taken at least one shot of a Covid-19 vaccine, while about 4.74 million, or 70.5 per cent of the eligible population, have taken two doses.

Meanwhile, 776,322 people in Hong Kong have taken the third booster shot as of 8:00 p.m. local time (1200 GMT) Saturday.