Phnom Penh, Apr 8 (IANS): Cambodia has imposed a two week ban on inter-provincial travel after the country witnessed an increase in the number of new coronavirus cases.

The ban took effect from Wednesday with the exception for vehicles transporting goods, officials, healthcare workers, armed forces members and patients, Xinhua news agency quoted Prime Minister Hun Sen as saying.

He added that commuter vehicles transporting garment factory workers will also be excepted from the ban if they hold an approval letter from the Labour Ministry or provincial labour departments.

"The ban is aimed at combating and preventing the spread of Covid-19 from one province to another," Hun Sen said.

He said the capital Phnom Penh and its surrounding Kandal province are considered as one region and travel between them will not be prohibited.

The Prime minister also ordered the closure of all tourism resorts across the Southeast Asian country for 14 days from April 7 to 20 in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

By Tuesday, Cambodia had reported 2,824 confirmed coronavirus cases with 22 fatalities and 1,794 recoveries, according to the Ministry of Health.

Cambodia began a Covid-19 vaccination drive on February 10.

As of Monday, more than 635,000 people in the priority groups had been vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to a government report.