* Government imposed coronavirus lockdowns on March 30
* Nigeria has confirmed 2,600 cases, 87 deaths
* Doctors warn against premature easing as cases spike
* Businesses can open if they decontaminate offices
* Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Namibia also relax restrictions
(Adds details, Nigerian Medical Association comment, Kenya
death)
By Nneka Chile and Alexis Akwagyiram
LAGOS, May 4 (Reuters) - Nigeria began easing restrictions
on Monday in its capital Abuja and in largest city Lagos,
heralding the reopening of Africa's biggest economy after more
than four weeks of lockdowns imposed to contain the new
coronavirus.
The government has said a 24-hour, stay-at-home order in
place since March 30 in Abuja and the states of Lagos and Ogun -
with exceptions only for food shopping and health-related trips
- will be lifted gradually over a six-week period. These densely populated regions will now come into line with
the rest of the country in which slightly looser restrictions
introduced last week by President Muhammadu Buhari include an
overnight curfew, mandatory face masks in public and a ban on
non-essential interstate travel. On Monday, the usually frenetic streets of the coastal
megacity Lagos, largely empty during the lockdown, were busy
again with cars, buses and motorised tricycle taxis.
Despite rules banning groups of more than 20 people and
stipulating that individuals remain two metres (6.6 feet) apart,
large groups of people often gathered by the road waiting for
public transport. Social distancing rules were largely ignored.
Distinctive yellow minivans used as buses were full, with
some passengers struggling to find space to enter vehicles.
However, in a crucial difference to pre-lockdown life, most
people on the streets of Lagos wore face masks.
In the capital Abuja, in central Nigeria, many businesses
were still closed.
"I don't have money in my pocket. I was coming to work,
telling my wife to pray for me to work and bring something so
that we could eat, but... there's no hope of working today,"
said father-of-three Easy Darlington, who could not reopen his
printing business in a shopping mall that remains shut.
Businesses have been allowed to reopen provided they have
decontaminated their offices, can enable social distancing and
offer hand sanitizer and hand washing.
However, schools and places of worship remain closed,
restaurants can operate only on a takeaway basis, and all
cultural events have been cancelled.
Nigeria has confirmed 2,558 infections of the new
coronavirus and 87 deaths since recording its first case at the
end of February, a much lower toll than those seen in COVID-19
hotspots in Europe and the United States.
But the number of confirmed cases has surged in recent days,
roughly doubling from 1,273 on April 27.
Experts have not reached a consensus on why Nigeria's case
tally has been so relatively low, though many point to a low
testing rate. The centre for disease control said only 17,566
samples have been tested in a country of 200 million people.
The decision to begin a phased lifting of the lockdown
despite the recent sharp rise in cases was criticised by some
medical experts including the Nigerian Medical Association.
The NMA president, Francis Faduyile, said on Friday the move
was "very premature" and risked driving up the rate of
infections, which he called a "frightening scenario".
AFRICAN 'REALITIES'
Nigeria and other African governments have sought to balance
curbs to avert an outbreak that could overwhelm hospitals with
efforts to mitigate the impact on workers in a continent where
85% are employed in the precarious informal sector. "While the initial reaction (in Nigeria) was a wholesale
transfer of containment measures designed in and for
substantially richer economies, the government is now adapting
its approach to domestic realities," said Malte Liewerscheidt,
vice president of Teneo Intelligence.
Rwanda, Namibia and Zimbabwe also began loosening their
lockdowns on Monday.
In Rwanda, which enforced a strict nationwide clampdown,
businesses have reopened and travel between provinces is
permitted again. Similarly, shops were allowed to reopen and
curbs lifted on domestic travel in Namibia, where wearing face
masks in public is now mandatory.
In Zimbabwe's capital Harare, queues formed outside money
transfer agencies as residents collected remittances. Money sent
from overseas is an important source of income in the southern
African country, which is in the grip of its worst economic
crisis in a decade.
But informal markets, which provide income to more than 80%
of Zimbabweans, are still not allowed to operate except for the
biggest fresh vegetable market in Harare.
The decision to ease restrictions follows similar steps
taken in other nations in the region. South Africa on Friday
relaxed one of the world's strictest COVID-19 lockdowns and
Ghana in West Africa last month lifted a three-week lockdown in
its two main cities.
But some African countries have gone against the trend.
Kenya, which imposed a daily 7 p.m.-5 a.m. nationwide curfew on
March 25, is yet to relax the overnight lockdown.
On Monday, residents of Mathare, a slum in the capital city
Nairobi, said police killed a 36-year-old man who was found
outside during the curfew. They marched with the body to a
Nairobi police station to protest over the killing.
A police spokesman did not immediately respond to a request
for comment.