Cape Verde announced new coronavirus-related restrictions on Friday, after a recent surge of infections in the tiny West African archipelago nation. Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva told reporters on the island of Sal, a popular tourist destination, that sports facilities will close for a month from Friday, and that restaurants and bars must shut after 9 pm. The former Portuguese colony has reported over 23,500 COVID-19 infections, with 213 deaths, according to official statistics released on Friday. But health officials in the country of 550,000 people have recorded an uptick in cases, which have recently averaged about 250 a day. The pandemic has battered the tourism-reliant economy of Cape Verde, which lies around 600 kilometres (375 miles) off the coast of Senegal. The country's GDP shrunk 14.8 percent last year. mln/mrb/eml/tgb