The Ekiti state government on Tuesday announced new measures to contain the increasing cases of COVID-19 across 16 local government areas of the state.

This is the third time the state government would be imposing such restrictions between 2020 and August 2021.

The state governor, Kayode Fayemi, who made the announcement expressed concerns over the increasing cases of the third wave of the pandemic in the state.

“We are constrained to respond to this development with the following non-pharmaceutical control measures which remain our best means of containing the pandemic in the state,” Mr Fayemi said.

Justifying the state government’s latest action, Mr Fayemi stated that 180 cases were recorded from July to the last few days in August alone.

He explained that, as a way of curtailing the third wave, restrictions had been re-imposed on social, religious and political gatherings across the state and directed transporters to reduce the number of their passengers by half.

Mr Fayemi said the state recorded 95 cases in July, and frighteningly 85 cases in the last few days in the month of August, stating that all efforts must be geared toward stopping the further spread of the deadly variant in the state.

The governor said patients were stable across the isolation centres in the state, advising residents to go about their businesses with strict adherence to the safety protocol.