African countries should not rush to lift the COVID-19 restrictive measures, TASS reported referring to the WHO representatives.

National and regional restrictions have helped slow the spread of coronavirus, but it continues to pose a danger to society, said WHO Director for Africa Rebecca Moeti.

She noted that there was no explosive increase in the number of people infected with the new coronavirus in Africa. At the same time, she highlighted the importance of testing and monitoring the contacts of infected people to identify new cases in the early stages.

Ghana became the first country in Africa to lift most of its restrictions on people, businesses, and shops on April 20. A five-week nationwide quarantine ends in the Republic of South Africa on May 1. The most populated country on the continent, Nigeria, lifts quarantine measures on May 4.