Hong Kong has asked civil servants to work from home “as far as possible” to rein COVID-19, a day after the Asian financial hub recorded a sudden surge in case numbers. The city reported 140 new infections on Jan. 23 during the height of the fifth COVID-19 wave—a record high in almost 18 months since July 30, 2020—when nine more cases were recorded, authorities said during a daily press conference. On the previous day there were 26 cases reported. About three-quarters of the locally-transmitted cases are reportedly linked to an outbreak at apartment blocks in Kwai Chung, a congested residential area on the Kowloon Peninsula. Thousands of residents there have been placed under lockdown and need to undergo testing daily. In a Jan. 24 statement, a government spokesman announced a reduced flow of people in government buildings and offices, in a bid to contain the spread of Omicron. “Such arrangements …