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| - The West African state of Liberia on Monday said it would extend anti-coronavirus measures and immediately toughen a nightly curfew after recording a rise of infections. President George Weah has decided to extend a state of emergency, announced on April 8 and due to expire on Monday, for another 30 days until July 21, his office said in a statement. The extension must be approved by parliament but in an immediate step, the government announced that a 9 pm curfew would henceforth start at 6 pm, ending as before at 6 am. The harsher stance contrasts with that of other African countries where restrictions have been eased in response to concern about their impact on the economy. "The general public no longer seem to comply with the health protocols which have up to this point helped prevent a much wider transmission of the disease in the country," the authorities said in a statement. The reopening of Roberts International Airport in the capital Monrovia, which was initially scheduled for June 21, has been postponed until June 28. Other restrictions remain in place, including closed borders and bans on public gatherings and travel between regions, although schools have partially reopened. Liberia has recorded 626 cases of COVID-19, 34 of which have been fatal. One of the world's poorest economies, the country was battered by civil wars between 1989 and 2003 that claimed around a quarter of a million lives, and by West Africa's 2014-16 Ebola pandemic, which killed 4,800 people in Liberia alone. zd-lal/ri/gd
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