Passengers wearing facemasks board a junk boat on Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong on Dec 22, 2022. (ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP)

HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s health authorities on Wednesday logged 16,423 new COVID cases while 63 more patients passed away after contracting coronavirus infection.

The new cases comprised 16,022 locally acquired cases and 401 imported infections, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health said in a statement.

The latest 63 deaths brought the city’s death toll from COVID-19 to 12,081, including 11,868 during the fifth wave, according to the Centre for Health Protection

The city reported 16,186 cases on Tuesday and 20,230 on the previous day.

The latest 63 deaths brought the city’s death toll from COVID-19 to 12,081, including 11,868 during the fifth wave, according to the CHP.

As of Wednesday, 31 residential care homes for the elderly and disabled filed COVID infections involving 49 residents and three staff members.

Meanwhile, 650 schools across the city, 965 students and 355 staff members were infected with COVID, though no school or class suspensions were triggered.

Between Oct 10, 2022 and Jan 4, 2023, Hong Kong’s imported cases were dominated by the XBB sub-lineage (75.84 percent) and local infections by BQ1.1 (48.98 percent) and XBB (42.86 percent).

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From Dec 26, 2022 to Jan 1, 2023, around 52.79 percent of verified COVID cases were linked with the BA.4 or BA.5 Omicron sub-variant.