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| - Uzbekistan said Wednesday it will reimpose coronavirus restrictions as it faces a steady growth in cases since a hard lockdown was eased in May and June. Restaurants, gyms, swimming pools and non-food markets in the ex-Soviet country will be among the businesses shuttered from July 10 to August 1, according to a decision by the government's coronavirus commission. Weddings, which were allowed with limits on guest numbers after the lockdown was lifted, will be prohibited again. Virus cases in Central Asian's most populous country have increased nearly three-fold since the beginning of last month as restrictions were being eased. Health officials reported a total of 10,838 infections on Wednesday, including 6,811 recoveries and 41 deaths. At the beginning of June the government had declared just 3,662 cases and 15 deaths. The pandemic has dealt a punishing blow to the country's fledgling tourism sector, which has benefited from reforms overseen by strongman President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in recent years. Resorts and guesthouses will be closed under the new restrictions and travel will be limited between different parts of the country. Some hotels will continue to function, however, as the country woos foreign tourists with a $3,000 guarantee covering potential treatment in the event they get infected. The number of international flights, which were recently resumed with countries where the coronavirus situation remains stable, will be halved, the virus commission said. In late May, Uzbekistan began loosening a hard lockdown put in place in March. Some restrictions were eased as recently as mid-June. Observers have questioned the accuracy of coronavirus data in the landlocked republic, as well as data provided by authorities in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, which have been overwhelmed by a second wave of infections. sk-cr/jbr/txw
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