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| - Sierra Leone's President Julius Maada Bio pledged to ease anti-coronavirus measures on Tuesday after months of restrictions in the poor West African nation. Speaking at a press conference in the capital Freetown, Bio said that travel would be permitted between regions from Wednesday. A nationwide anti-virus curfew will also be shortened, effective immediately, lasting from 11 pm to 6 am, and commercial flights will resume "in the very short run", the president said. The former British colony of some 7.5 million people first enacted anti-coronavirus measures in March, which included shutting schools and places of worship and restricting travel, among other steps. Authorities have recorded 1,340 cases in the country to date, with some 55 fatalities. As with other poor countries in the region, coronavirus restrictions have taken an economic toll, which spurred sporadic protests in Sierra Leone in May. sb-eml/gd
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