CONAKRY (Guinea), March 31 — Guinean President Alpha Conde has announced a night-time curfew and restrictions on movement out of the capital to help curb coronavirus, according to a decree read on national television.

In addition to the 9pm-5am (2100-0500 GMT) lockdown, "the movement of people from Conakry to the interior of the country is forbidden” except for special exemptions, said the decree, issued late today.

The impoverished West African state has officially recorded 20 cases of coronavirus, none of them fatal.

The latest steps add to measures announced on March 26, including the declaration of a state of emergency, the closure of borders except for goods trade, the shuttering of schools and places of worship, and a ban on gatherings of more than 20 people.

The curfew has been announced at a time of deep political crisis in Guinea over Conde’s plans to change the constitution—a move that the opposition says is a plot to extend his time in office.

Several dozen people have died in violent protests since October. — AFP