LAGOS, June 16 (Reuters) - Nigeria's commercial hub Lagos
has suspended plans to reopen places of worship after a review
of the new coronavirus outbreak, the state governor said on
Tuesday.
Earlier this month Nigeria's government said places of
worship, which the government ordered to close in March to halt
the spread of the highly infectious virus, could reopen. It said
each state would decide the terms on which its places of worship
would reopen. Christianity and Islam are widely practised in Lagos, as in
the rest of Nigeria. Places of worship were due to open from
June 19.
"We will not be proceeding with the opening of the places of
worship," Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu told
journalists, adding the closures would be effective until
further notice.
Sanwo-Olu said the decision followed a review of the
outbreak in the state.
"Our review indicted that we needed to suspend that attempt
at opening," he said.
Lagos state, whose capital city of 20 million inhabitants
bears the same name, is the epicentre of the outbreak in
Nigeria. The country that has recorded 16,658 confirmed cases
and 424 deaths.
A month-long lockdown in Lagos was eased in early May but
authorities have expressed concern that many people are not
observing rules to remain 2 metres from others, wear a mask in
public and not gather in groups of 20 or more.