Uzbekistan locked down more cities and districts on Friday and announced large bonus payments for medical workers in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, as it reported the country’s first death and the number of cases climbed to 83.
A 72-year old man in the city of Namangan died on Friday morning, having suffered from a host of other diseases in addition to the coronavirus, the healthcare ministry said.
Municipal authorities in the province of Navoi, home to large gold- and uranium-mining companies and chemical plants, said they were locking down the cities of Navoi and Zarafshan, as well as several districts.
Authorities in the major tourism hub of Bukhara also said the city would close its borders.
The central Asian nation has already locked down some of its biggest cities, including the capital, Tashkent.