Local authorities had bowed to the public pressure to lift the curfew AL-MUKALLA: Local authorities in several Yemeni provinces have begun easing coronavirus restrictions following a fall in the number of infections and deaths. In the eastern province of Mahra, a government emergency committee on Wednesday lifted a night-time curfew in the capital after health facilities reported fewer infections and deaths. Spokesperson Mohammed Saeed Kelaishat told Arab News that the province has had five deaths since the start of the outbreak in Yemen in April, while the number of patients with coronavirus symptoms admitted to local hospitals has fallen. “The quarantine is empty and all cases have recovered. The other patients have isolated themselves at home,” Kelaishat said. Local authorities had bowed to the public pressure to lift the curfew, which affected businesses in the province, he said. “Traders have complained that the curfew has had an impact on their businesses,” he added. The province has reported 22 confirmed cases, including 14 recoveries and five deaths. Kelaishat said that the province’s quarantine facility has not received any patients with acute respiratory problems since early last month, an indication that the pandemic is easing. “The curfew will be reimposed if coronavirus cases rise again,” he said. In neighboring Hadramout province, local authorities have reduced curfew hours and allowed mosques to reopen for prayers, while advising people to follow social distancing rules, and wear masks and gloves. The curfew was adjusted from 2 p.m. to 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. Restrictions were imposed in the province on April 10 after the first case of coronavirus in Yemen was detected in the port city of Sheher. According to the Aden-based national coronavirus committee, the large province of Hadramout has recorded 133 deaths, the largest number of fatalities in Yemen, followed by Taiz with 61. The total number of deaths in government-controlled areas is 312. In Aden, Yemen’s interim capital, local officials said that the number of daily deaths has returned to normal levels. “There is a gradual and sharp decrease in deaths from different kinds of fever by 50 percent. There is also 50 percent drop in the occupancy of quarantines,” Abdulla bin Ghouth, a professor of community medicine and epidemiology at Hadramout University’s College of Medicine, and an adviser to the health minister, told Arab News on Wednesday. Local media outlets quoted Gen. Sanad Jamel, director of Civil Affairs Authority, as saying that daily deaths from disease in Aden have fallen from 70 early last month to 17. In May, the internationally recognized government declared Aden an “infested” city as coronavirus and other diseases claimed that lives of hundreds.