The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Monday it has approved a loan worth 100 million U.S. dollars to strengthen Uzbekistan's response to public health emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ADB said its COVID-19 Emergency Response Project will help fund the country in increasing testing capacity for COVID-19 and related illnesses at 38 laboratories nationwide, refurbishing laboratories to ensure safe working conditions, as well as improving diagnosis and management of COVID-19 cases over the next two years.

The latest loan is part of the ADB's comprehensive package of support to Uzbekistan, which also includes a loan of 500 million dollars approved in June to help the Uzbek government mitigate the adverse health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, said the Manila-based bank.

Uzbekistan has so far registered 26,066 COVID-19 infections, with 157 deaths and 16,838 recoveries.