India's capital announced the end of a weekend curfew and eased other stringent coronavirus restrictions, with government data suggesting the country's recent Omicron variant outbreak had slowed.

Health authorities are still recording more than a quarter million cases across the country each day, but daily deaths have stayed a tiny fraction of those seen last year, AFP reports.

Local officials in New Delhi decided to reopen restaurants, allow markets to operate at full capacity and lift an all-weekend curfew imposed at the start of January that kept nearly all residents confined to their homes.