Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on Wednesday that the government would reimpose a lockdown to stop a surge in virus cases that followed an easing of restrictions in May. The Central Asian government had "presented a plan to introduce quarantine from July 5 for a period of 14 days", Tokayev announced on Twitter. The leader of the ex-Soviet country -- which has seen its total number of infections quadruple in the past month -- added that the two-week lockdown could be extended if necessary. Oil-rich Kazakhstan currently has over 41,000 registered virus infections, including more than 13,000 recovered cases and 188 deaths. The country initially lifted two-month quarantine orders in May. Total cases in Kazakhstan stood at just over 11,000 at the beginning of June, with around half of patients recovered. dr-cr/jbr/jxb