Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, on Friday suspended the planned reopening of religious centres in the state due to the increase in COVID-19 cases.
The governor had earlier fixed June 19 for the reopening of worship centres in the state and had set up a tripartite committee to work out the modalities for the reopening.
But he rescinded his decision on Friday, citing increasing COVID-19 cases.
Abiodun said as of June 15, the state had recorded a total of 586 cases as against 316 recorded by June 4. He said statistics showed an increase by 270 cases or 85 per cent within the past 14 days.
He said, “Put more succinctly, the number of cases recorded in the last 14 days has almost doubled the number recorded between when the index case was recorded on February 27 to June 4, a period of 98 days.
“On a positive note, a total of 315 patients have been successfully treated and discharged, representing 54 per cent of the total positive cases.
“Within this period (14 days), we have painfully recorded additional six deaths, bringing the total to 15, an increase of over 66 per cent compared to nine as at the last update.”
The governor also stated that community transmission had been on the increase and that a review of the data and feedback from the field showed that the COVID-19 situation in the state had not improved since the last update.
He said, “Consequently, we are confronted with two choices – yield to the demand of those who want the restrictions to be further relaxed or even completely removed, even if this is at variance with the dictates of incontrovertible data analysis and scientific opinion; or toe the line that preserves public health and safety, even if not so popular.
“As a responsible administration, we choose life and the well-being of our citizens and are therefore constrained to take the painful but necessary decision to maintain the current regime of eased lockdown in the meantime.
“We are consequently suspending our initially slated reopening of places of worship.”
