Santiago, Dec 22 (IANS): The Chilean government has decided to extend an existing curfew by two hours each day starting from Saturday to contain the increasing number of confirmed coronavirus cases, health authorities said.

Chile will then be under a daily nationwide curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., Xinhua news agenc quoted the Ministry of Health as saying on Monday.

The Santiago Metropolitan Region, the epicentre of the pandemic in the country, will apply restrictions such as limits on gatherings and travel bans.

Health Minister Enrique Paris said that new infections have increased 19 per cent across the country.

The health authorities were "very concerned" about the latest surge, particularly when the average age of new cases has now fallen to 39 years old, Paris added.

He urged young people to take responsible actions facing the festival season.

On Monday, Chile reported 1,943 new coronavirus cases and 43 fatalities, raising the total number of infections and deaths to 587,488 and 16,197, respectively.