Coronavirus / MP govt imposes lockdown in all urban areas from Friday 6 pm to Monday 6 am

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday announced a 60-hour lockdown in the urban areas of the state in the wake of rising daily cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). The lockdown, Chouhan announced, will be in effect from 6pm on Friday to 6am on Monday.

“In the wake of Covid-19 situation, there will be a lockdown from 6pm on Friday to 6am on Monday in all urban areas of Madhya Pradesh. For cities where cases have increased, appropriate action will be taken after a meeting of the crisis management group. We’re making containment areas in big cities,” the chief minister was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Thursday’s announcement by Chouhan comes on a day all urban areas in Madhya Pradesh will witness a daily night curfew till further orders, as directed by the state government on Wednesday. According to the government’s order, a night curfew will be in effect from 10pm on a day till 6am the next day. It also announced that all government offices will operate five days a week, from Monday to Friday, for the next three months. Additionally, the entire district of Chhindwara will enter a lockdown from 8pm on Thursday for the next seven days.

In the last few days, the Madhya Pradesh government has announced several measures to curb the spread of the pandemic, including suspending bus services with the neighbouring state of Chhattisgarh till April 15.

On Wednesday, the state’s Covid-19 tally rose to 318,014 with the addition of 4,043 new cases, according to the health department. The related death toll, meanwhile, is at 4,086 as 13 more people succumbed to the viral disease. Active cases are at 26,059, while 287,860 people have recovered thus far.

Indore, the largest city in Madhya Pradesh, is also the worst-hit, and saw its caseload rise to 74,895 with 866 new cases. Bhopal, the state capital, is next, with an infection tally of 55,215, an increase of 618 infections. Indore has seen 981 deaths thus far while Bhopal has recorded 641 fatalities.