Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has cancelled the planned reopening of places of worship in Lagos State.

The governor had announced two weeks ago that mosques should reopen on June 19, 2020, and churches should reopen on June 21.

It was one in a list of measures relaxed after the state had been on lockdown from late March until early May to combat the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Lagos is the epicentre of the highly infectious disease in Nigeria with 7,319 cases, 43.9% of the country's total of 16,658.

Sanwo-Olu announced during a media briefing on Tuesday, June 16 that the reopening plan for places of worship has been suspended due to the rising number of new cases recorded in the state.

"We've critically had to have a thorough review of where we are as a state and our review indicated that we needed to suspend that attempt quickly," he said.

The governor said new dates will be communicated later to the public as the situation develops.

Sanwo-Olu also stressed that social and events centers, and social clubs in the state will remain closed until further notice.

The governor said the rising number of cases is due to the state's improvement of its testing capacity.

He urged Lagosians to be more responsible for their own personal safety to complement the efforts of the government to curb the spread of the disease.

"Decisions to use masks any time you are out of your house, to avoid non-essential travel, to stay at home when we don't have any business being outside, to wash or sanitise our hands regularly - these are the simple but necessary steps that will save and protect us all," he said.

Coronavirus cases have been recorded in 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja since the first case was detected in late February.

424 people have died, as of June 15.

Many of the lockdown measures that went into effect in late March have been relaxed by the Federal Government and state governments all over the country.

However, schools and social events are still largely prohibited from resuming regular activities.

A ban on interstate travelling also remains in place, but it never fully stopped thousands of people from travelling across state lines even when many states were on full lockdown.