African countries drop Covid-19 curbs in effort to limit economic harm

Fragile economies relax measures despite rapid rise in infections on continent

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Governments across Africa are abandoning restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the hope of limiting damage to their fragile economies, despite a rapid raise in the number of cases of the virus across the continent.

Strict lockdowns have inflicted significant suffering on hundreds of millions of people who live without regular employment in overcrowded housing, and undermined public finances in already poor nations.