Men will be allowed to go out on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays but only to buy essential items, President Martín Vizcarra announced in a national address.

Women will be free to leave their homes on the other days of the week, with the exception of Sundays, when no one will be allowed out.

The measures will be in place until at least 12 April. Panama announced similar gender-based restrictions last week.

Peru was one of the first countries in South America to introduce lockdown measures.

It has reported more than 1,400 cases of Covid-19 so far, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University in the US.