Eighty-nine more people in Hong Kong tested positive for HIV antibodies in the first quarter of 2006, bringing the total number of reported HIV infections to 2,914 since 1984, Hong Kong health authority said yesterday.

"Of the 89 new HIV cases reported, 26 acquired the infection via heterosexual contact, 26 via homosexual or bisexual contact and eight cases of injection drug use," said Senior Medical Officer Dr Raymond Ho, of the Center for Health Protection under the Department of Health, which filed the statistics.

The routes of transmission of the remaining 29 cases were undetermined due to inadequate data.

Among the 89 new HIV cases, 70 were males.

The newly reported AIDS cases have brought the total number of confirmed AIDS cases to 799 in Hong Kong, a city with about 7 million people.

Reviewing the AIDS situation in Hong Kong at a press conference yesterday, department officials said the predominant route of HIV transmission in this quarter remains sexual contact.