Bahrain will suspend dine-in services at restaurants and cafes and move public and private schools to remote learning for three weeks to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the health ministry said.
It said it had detected a new variant of coronavirus in a number of cases, without specifying which kind.
The new lockdown measures will come into effect on Sunday.
There has been an uptick in coronavirus cases in the Gulf kingdom since December. The country registered 459 new cases on Wednesday, adding to a total of nearly 100,000 since the start of the pandemic, with 370 deaths.
The small island state has the third highest rate of vaccinations per capita in the world so far, according to the Our World in Data website, which is run by an Oxford University research programme.
Bahrain offers its citizens either the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine or one manufactured by Chinese state-backed pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm free of charge.
The kingdom also approved the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on Monday for emergency use.
The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) has announced that the Mina Al-Ahmadi Refinery, operated by Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC), came under drone attacks early on Friday, with a fire breaking out at several units as a result.
France, Spain, Bahrain, and India have condemned the Iranian attack that targeted Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City during separate phone calls with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
President Donald Trump has drawn a parallel on Thursday between US strikes on Iran and Japan's 1941 attack on Pearl Harbour, as he defended the war he launched against Tehran while meeting Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Washington.
Iran no longer has the capacity to enrich uranium or make ballistic missiles after 20 days of US-Israeli air attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a news conference on Thursday.
The US objectives in its war against Iran have not changed since strikes started on February 28, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday, and he accused the media of stirring up concerns that the country risked being locked in an open-ended conflict with shifting priorities.
Broadcasting every weekday, Georgia Tolley goes beyond the headlines to speak to government ministers, decision makers, analysts and local experts to find out how the news will impact those of us living in the UAE.
Every weekday afternoon, Helen Farmer will help you to navigate the highs and lows of life in the UAE. Stay up to date with what’s happening and where to go.
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