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Libya's UN-backed government has announced an immediate "total curfew" in an effort to stop the coronavirus spreading.

It will last for four days, and there will then be a partial curfew.

The measures will only apply in areas of western Libya that are under the government's control.

The rest of the country is in the hands of other forces.

Analysts say there will be some suspicion that the lockdown is at least in part intended to stifle a wave of anti-government protests.

Demonstrators angry at corruption and dire living conditions have been taking to the streets of the capital, Tripoli, in recent days.