People wearing facemasks look at decorations for sale in Hong Kong on Jan 12, 2023 ahead of the Lunar New Year. (ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP)

HONG KONG – Health authorities of Hong Kong on Saturday reported 7,749 new cases of COVID-19, including 186 imported ones amid a seemingly decreasing trend of infection among the residents.

Total 54 people who were diagnosed with the virus succumbed to their infections, taking the city’s tally of casualty to 12,747, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health said in a statement.

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According to CHP data, the city registered 8,260 new COVID cases on Friday, 9,208 on Thursday and 9,279 on the previous day.

Of Saturday’s 7,563 locally acquired cases, 1,393 tested positive by nucleic acid tests while the remaining 6,170 through rapid antigen tests (RATs).

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Hong Kong has recorded 2,825,456 positive cases since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.