Tashkent, Jun 26 (IANS): Uzbekistan will tighten Covid-19 restrictions across the country and impose partial lockdown in Tashkent for two weeks amid surging Covid-19 infections, the Uzbek health ministry said on Friday.

Under the decision of the Uzbek special commission to fight against the coronavirus, restrictions will be imposed on entry to the capital city from neighboring regions by vehicles "in the absence of an urgent need" from June 28 to July 12, according to the ministry.

For the same duration, opening hours of all entertainment facilities throughout the country, including restaurants, nightclubs, karaoke bars, billiard and computer rooms, and catering facilities, will be reduced till 8 p.m., and the number of visitors should not exceed 50 per cent of their total capacity, it said.

Earlier this week, the Uzbek health authorities announced that they have registered in the country a Covid-19 variant first identified in India, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The country registered 476 cases for the past day, the highest number since the beginning of this year, said the health authorities Friday.

Uzbekistan has so far registered 108,184 Covid-19 cases and 725 related deaths.