By Babalola Seyi
Ogun State Governor , Dapo Abiodun , on Friday suspended the planned to reopen 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But he rescinded his decision on Friday, citing increasing COVID- 19 cases.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 . ”
