Sierra Leone's President Julius Maada Bio said that he would open mosques and churches from Monday after they had been closed to help curb coronavirus in the West African state. In a televised address late Thursday, the president also said the country's international airport will open to commercial flights again on July 22. The nation of some 7.5 million people first enacted anti-coronavirus measures in March, which included shutting schools and places of worship and restricting travel. Bio already eased some of these measures last month, permitting domestic travel and shortening a nationwide night-time curfew. Health officials in the former British colony have recorded 1,598 coronavirus cases to date, with 63 fatalities. As with other poor countries in the region, coronavirus restrictions have taken an economic toll, which spurred sporadic protests in Sierra Leone in May. sb-eml/ri