Twinnie Siu and Farah Masters

HONG KONG, (Reuters) –Hong Kong is taking steps to reduce the number of civil servants in its offices starting Tuesday. This comes as the city battles a series of COVID-19 infection in the lead-up to the Lunar New Year holidays.

On Sunday, 140 daily cases reached an 18-month peak of 140. This was due to a weekend spike in infections caused by a congestion on a public housing estate. Officials in the Asian financial center were scrambling for ways to control the virus.

The government stated that some employees will “work at home as often as possible,” and added that certain departments may temporarily reduce their public service budgets as a consequence.

Hong Kong has placed thousands of Hong Kong residents in Kwai Chung for five days ahead of next week’s Lunar New Year holiday. Leader Carrie Lam, who visited the area over the weekend, said that 35,000 people face certain curbs and will have to take daily tests.

This situation puts Hong Kong’s strategy of eliminating the disease “zero COVID” to test. Schools and gyms have been closed, and restaurants are closing at 6 pm. Many major air routes have also been cut or dismantled.

Lam stated that there was only “slim possibility” city-wide restrictions would be lifted as planned on February 4.

Authorities infuriated by the order to kill more than 2,000 pet hamsters at over a dozen shops last week after finding a worker who had been exposed to the disease.