‘Corona curfew’ in Madhya Pradesh extended till May 7 as situation remains grim

By PTI
BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh government extended the ‘corona curfew’ in the state till May 7 to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission, a minister said on Wednesday.

At present, ‘corona curfew’ is underway in several districts of the state, including Bhopal, Indore and other prominent cities, till May 3.

“Chief Minister (Shivraj Singh Chouhan) has decided to extend the corona curfew (or Janata curfew) till May 7,” state Home Minister Narottam Mishra said here.

He was talking to reporters about the meeting in which chief minister reviewed the coronavirus situation in the state along with the cabinet members.

The district-level crisis management committees are authorised to take a decision about the corona curfew in consultation with the state government, he said.

Mishra said the number of COVID-19 positive cases in 10 districts has reduced and these numbers are static in 13 other districts.

Less than 50 cases were reported in six districts, while the spread has been effectively curbed in three districts, Mishra said.

The coronavirus spread in some districts, including Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur and Ujjain, is worrying and the chief minister himself is monitoring the situation at these places, he said.

The minister said that the state government’s focus is on breaking the chain of infection.

According to him, the state’s districts have been divided into three groups for the purpose of reviewing the coronavirus situation.

The COVID-19 situation in the districts of the first group was reviewed on Wednesday.

Mishra said the state government was also in discussion to stop plying of buses from Niwari and Datia districts, located along the Uttar Pradesh border.

Talking about the availability of the life-saving gas, Mishra said that 29 tankers of oxygen reached the state in two days.

An Oxygen Express train carrying six tankers also reached Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday, he said.

“The result of efforts being made to control the pandemic is being seen today as the state reached 11th spot from 7th in the country as far as the number of active cases is concerned,” he said.

The recovery rate in the state reached 85 per cent on Wednesday from 80.49 a day before, he said.

Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday reported 12,758 COVID-19 cases, which took the caseload in the state to 5,38,165 and 105 deaths took the fatality count to 5,424.