ISTANBUL — Turkey is prohibiting big weddings and other celebrations in an effort to curb what the health minister called a “second peak” of the coronavirus outbreak as infection rates accelerate to the highest levels in more two than months.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has decided to bar wedding celebrations, circumcision ceremonies, hen nights and engagement parties in all of Turkey’s 81 provinces from Friday, following a recommendation from the coronavirus task force, the Interior Ministry said in a circular. Couples will still be allowed to marry at events without food or dancing; the celebrations will be limited to one hour.

The new restrictions came after Health Minister Dr. Fahrettin Koca chided the public for failing to engage in “controlled socialization” after the government scrapped a partial lockdown in June. “I can say that we are now experiencing the second peak of the first wave of the coronavirus,” he said at a news conference late on Wednesday.

The capital Ankara has the highest rate of infection followed by parts of the mainly Kurdish southeast, where hospitals are under strain. Meanwhile, the outbreak is “under control” in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, and other parts of western Turkey, said Koca.