Amid Covid-19 surge, 1-day lockdown in Bhopal, Indore and Jabalpur today
The decision to impose the lockdown was taken at a review meeting of the coronavirus situation in the state which was chaired by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday.
Owing to the recent increase in cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the Madhya Pradesh government announced a one-day lockdown in the three biggest cities of the state - Indore, Bhopal and Jabalpur - which will be in place on Sunday. The lockdown will be effective from 10pm Saturday to 6am on Monday. The government also announced that a one-day lockdown will be imposed on every Sunday in these three cities until further orders. The three cities have already been under a night curfew which was imposed on March 15.
During the period of the lockdown, essential services will continue to remain operational. Additionally, there will be an exemption for the movement of sick persons, transportation to and from airport and for students appearing for competitive examinations. Railway stations shall also remain operational during the period of lockdown.
The decision to impose the lockdown was taken at a review meeting of the coronavirus situation in the state which was chaired by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday. After the meeting, it was also announced that educational institutions in the three cities will remain closed till March 31, although examinations will be conducted according to the predetermined schedule.
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The state government has also banned the movement of all passenger buses to and from Maharashtra and air travellers from Maharashtra also have to produce a negative RT-PCR test report upon their arrival in Madhya Pradesh. This has been done as Maharashtra has seen a massive spike in coronavirus cases and remains the worst affected state.
The Union ministry of health and welfare said on Saturday that a rising trend of daily coronavirus cases was seen in eight states of the country which includes Madhya Pradesh.
“A rising trajectory of daily new cases is visible in eight states. These are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka and Haryana." the ministry said in a statement.
Madhya Pradesh reported 1,380 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, as per the state health department, which took the tally to 2,74,405 cases, while two Covid-related deaths increased the death toll to 3,903. The active cases in the state stood at 7,344, while the total recoveries stood at 2,63,158.