A deliveryman rides a bicycle laden with boxes of lunch as he makes his way through a deserted Admiralty a day after Hong Kong reported a record 108 new COVID-19 cases. On July 20, 2020 in Hong Kong. (PARKER ZHENG / CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG - HSBC, Standard Chartered and other banks in Hong Kong closed branches or curtailed their working hours on Monday after a spike in the number of new coronavirus cases in the Asian financial hub.

Hong Kong recorded more than 100 cases in a 24-hour period over the weekend, the most since the pandemic took hold in late January

Hong Kong’s third wave is its worst ever, with about 560 local infections confirmed in just 16 days, including 66 cases Monday. 

The aggressive resurgence in the city comes after a period that saw residents return to normal life, and the high share of cases of unknown origins in the new outbreak suggests that hidden chains of transmission have been festering for some time.

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Hong Kong banks shut scores of branches in late January when the first wave of the coronavirus cases hit the city. These later reopened as case numbers dropped.

But as the number of cases increased again, global banks including Citigroup Inc and UBS Group AG are suspending their return-to-office plans in Hong Kong.

Citigroup, which had already asked as many as 70 percent of staff to work from home last week, is now asking most people to do so starting Monday, according to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg News.

JPMorgan Chase & Co and Goldman Sachs Group Inc are also requesting workers stay away from the office, while UBS estimates about 60 percent will work from home, triple the level of two weeks ago.

“We work to data not dates and the safety of our staff and clients is our top priority,” said James Griffiths, Citigroup’s Hong Kong-based spokesman.

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Bank of China (Hong Kong) said in a statement on Monday it would suspend services at nine branches due to the spread of the virus. It had already suspended services at three branches, one of which reopened on Monday.

HSBC said in a separate statement it would temporarily close two business centers for commercial banking and three mobile branches operating from trucks, and shorten operating hours at all branches.

One HSBC employee tested positive for the virus over the weekend after returning to Hong Kong from overseas, according to an internal memo which was confirmed by a bank spokeswoman. The individual was last in an HSBC office in February and had no face-to-face contact with other staff or business associates in the last 14 days, the memo said.

HSBC subsidiary Hang Seng Bank closed one branch for 14 days for deep cleaning after a member of staff preliminarily tested positive for COVID-19, it said on Sunday.

Standard Chartered and Bank of East Asia said they would shorten branch opening hours.

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On Sunday, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced tighter coronavirus restrictions with non-essential civil servants told to work from home.

“The situation is really severe and there is no sign that it is under control,” Lam said. “To combat the pandemic, I hereby urge citizens to be patient in order to contain this.”

Amusement parks, gyms and 10 other types of venues will remain closed for another seven days, while a requirement for restaurants to only provide takeaway after 6 pm was extended. Face masks will be mandatory in indoor public areas.

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The pull back underscores the challenges for global banks as they try to resume operations in parts of Asia where the rate of new cases had been slowing. Bankers in financial hubs including Shanghai and Singapore have been slowly returning to their offices, in contrast to London and New York where most staff remain at home.

Goldman Sachs had been using a split-team approach with as many as 50 percent of Asia staff working from the office, Chief Executive Officer David Solomon said last week. The UK figure is at 15 percent, while in New York only a small number have returned, he said.

The New York-based bank is now asking all Hong Kong employees to work from home except for office-critical staff, compared with about 50 percent as recently as last week and none last month, according to a bank spokesman. Barclays Plc, which had as many as 60 percent of staff in their Hong Kong offices before the latest surge, has seen that number drop below 50 percent since Wednesday, a spokeswoman said. Citigroup had about half its staff at home before the bump last week.