News Analysis India

Tag: Madhya Pradesh Coronavirus

  • As COVID cases dip in Madhya Pradesh, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan says all curbs, except night curfew, lifted

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced on Friday that all COVID-19 curbs, barring night curfew, were being lifted across the state due to the fall in cases.

    Taking to Twitter, he said, “Keeping in view the continuous fall in cumulative positivity rate and active cases of COVID-19, all the curbs imposed have been eased. All the social, commercial, cultural, political, religious, entertainment, sports activities and fairs in MP will be held with full capacity.”

    The CM informed that schools, colleges, and hostels can function at full capacity, while attendance limits for weddings and funerals were being removed.

    Since the pandemic had not ended completely, curfew between 11pm and 5am will continue, he said, and asked people to wear masks and adhere to COVID appropriate behaviour.

    As on Friday, MP’s caseload stood at 10,21,361, with the positivity rate being 3.4 per cent, down from 3.67 per cent a day earlier.

  • No entry in Madhya Pradesh’s Burhanpur to travelers from Maharashtra without negative COVID-19 report

    By PTI

    BURHANPUR: The administration in Madhya Pradesh’s Burhanpur district has made a negative RT-PCR test report mandatory for those coming from neighbouring Maharashtra, an official said on Saturday.

    The district lies on the border of MP and Maharashtra.

    It will be mandatory for travelers coming from Maharashtra to produce a negative RT-PCR test report before entry into the district, said Shailendra Solanki, Additional District Magistrate (ADM), Burhanpur.

    The report should not be older than 48 hours, he added.

    Three check points have been set up on the border with Maharashtra where police, district administration and health teams are posted round the clock to check RT-PCR reports, he said.

    Maharashtra is among the states which have been hit worst by the coronavirus pandemic.

    The COVID-19 tally in Madhya Pradesh rose to 8,24,543 on Saturday with detection of 5,315 new cases.

  • Coronavirus: Five-day week system to continue in MP govt offices till October 31 

    By PTI
    BHOPAL: In light of the prevailing COVID-19 situation, the Madhya Pradesh government on Thursday extended the five-day week system in all government offices till October 31.

    The earlier order issued in this regard was effective till July 31, an official said.

    “In view of the COVID-19 pandemic’s prevention and as a precautionary measure, all government offices in the state will have five-day week functioning (Monday-Friday) till October 31,” the official said.

    Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday reported 15 fresh cases of COVID-19 that raised the infection tally to 7,91,704, which includes 10,512 casualties.

  • HC asks Centre to supply enough COVID-19 vaccine to inoculate MP’s entire adults by September-end

    By PTI
    JABALPUR: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has asked the Centre to supply enough COVID-19 vaccines to the state to ensure that the entire adult population in the region gets at least one dose by September-end.

    The division bench of Chief Justice Mohammed Rafiq and Justice Satyendra Kumar Singh made the observation on Monday while hearing in a suo motu case about the state government’s preparedness in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, senior advocate Naman Nagrath told PTI on Thursday.

    “This court in this connection requires the Central government to ensure supply of vaccines in sufficient quantity to Madhya Pradesh, keeping in view the required demand of 1.5 crore vaccines per month regularly, so that the target of vaccination of first dose to all people in the 18 plus population in the state is achieved by the end of September,” the bench said.

    The second dose can also be administered as per the priorities fixed with reference to people already vaccinated with the first dose, it stated.

    The court’s observation came after the National Health Mission’s Madhya Pradesh managing director Chhavi Bhardwaj submitted that the Centre had supplied approximately 37 lakh vaccine doses in May, 54 lakh doses in June and by July 19, the state had received approximately 60 lakh doses, which is likely to increase to 70 lakh by the end of the month.

    Bhardwaj further stated that they are expecting the supply to increase to one crore by the end of August, as both vaccine makers – Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech Pvt Ltd – were progressively increasing their manufacturing capacity.

    The state will require 40 lakh vaccine doses per week on an average and 1.

    50 crore doses per month to achieve the target of 100 per cent vaccination of the entire adult population of the state by the end of September, she said.

    Senior counsel Nagrath said the case has been listed for next hearing on August 10.

  • COVID-19: India’s daily death toll climbs to 2020 after Madhya Pradesh adds backlog

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: India’s COVID-19 death toll climbed to 4,10,784 with 2,020 new deaths recorded after Madhya Pradesh reconciled its fatality data, while 31,443 new coronavirus cases were reported, the lowest in 118 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

    India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases mounted to 3,09,05,819.

    The active cases have declined to 4,31,315 and comprise 1.40 per cent of the total infections.

    The national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 97.28 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.

    As many as 17,40,325 tests were conducted on Monday taking the total number of cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 43,40,58,138.

    The daily positivity rate has declined to 1.81 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for 22 consecutive days, the ministry said, adding the weekly positivity rate stands at 2.28 per cent.

    The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,00,63,720 and the case fatality rate stands at 1.32 per cent, the data stated.

    Cumulative vaccine doses administered so far has reached 38.14 crore under the Nationwide Vaccination Drive.

    India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

    It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

    India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.

    The 2,020 new fatalities include 1,481 from Madhya Pradesh, 146 from Maharashtra and 100 from Kerala.

    A total of 4,10,784 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,26,024 from Maharashtra, 35,896 from Karnataka, 33,454 from Tamil Nadu, 25,018 from Delhi, 22,700 from Uttar Pradesh, 17,927 from West Bengal and 16,193 from Punjab.

    The ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

    “Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

  • Madhya Pradesh reconciles Covid fatality data, publishes 1,478 ‘backlog’ deaths

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: India’s COVID-19 death toll climbed to 4,10,784 with 2,020 new deaths recorded after Madhya Pradesh reconciled its fatality data, while 31,443 new coronavirus cases were reported, the lowest in 118 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

    India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases mounted to 3,09,05,819.

    The active cases have declined to 4,31,315 and comprise 1.40 per cent of the total infections.

    The national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 97.28 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.

    As many as 17,40,325 tests were conducted on Monday taking the total number of cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 43,40,58,138.

    The daily positivity rate has declined to 1.81 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for 22 consecutive days, the ministry said, adding the weekly positivity rate stands at 2.28 per cent.

    The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,00,63,720 and the case fatality rate stands at 1.32 per cent, the data stated.

    Cumulative vaccine doses administered so far has reached 38.14 crore under the Nationwide Vaccination Drive.

    India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

    It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

    India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.

    The 2,020 new fatalities include 1,481 from Madhya Pradesh, 146 from Maharashtra and 100 from Kerala.

    A total of 4,10,784 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,26,024 from Maharashtra, 35,896 from Karnataka, 33,454 from Tamil Nadu, 25,018 from Delhi, 22,700 from Uttar Pradesh, 17,927 from West Bengal and 16,193 from Punjab.

    The ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

    “Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

  • After chat with PM Narendra Modi, Madhya Pradesh resident gets himself vaccinated against COVID-19

    By PTI
    BHOPAL: Encouraged after a chat with Prime Minister Narendra Modi who urged people to shed hesitancy against COVID-19 vaccine, a villager from Madhya Pradesh got inoculated along with his family members.

    Seeking to make people shed their reservations about vaccines against coronavirus, Modi spoke to residents of Dulariya village in MP’s Betul district.

    The chat was aired on the PM’s monthly ‘Mann Ki Baat’ broadcast on Sunday.

    Modi counselled them to take the vaccine amidst their doubts about the inoculation exercise.

    Rajesh Hirave (43) was one of those who had a chat with the PM.

    “After talking to the prime minister on Friday, I along with my family members got the vaccine shot for prevention from the coronavirus infection on Saturday,” Hirave told PTI over phone.

    “I encouraged others also, following which 127 people from the village got vaccinated,” he said.

    ALSO WATCH: How Mumbai, India’s most crowded city, beat the odds, and the coronavirus

    The villager further said he is now inspiring other locals to get the jab.

    “I am very happy to talk to the prime minister. I have no words to express my happiness,” Hirave said.

    The prime minister also spoke to another 60-year-old village resident Kishorilal Dhurve, who also later got vaccinated.

    “My father has got vaccinated and is now encouraging others to get the vaccine jab,” Dhurve’s son Ravindra told PTI.

    Hirave, while talking to the PM, said people were hesitating to get inoculated due to misconceptions being spread about it on WhatsApp.

    While speaking to Hirave and Dhurve, the prime minister said he and his nearly 100-year-old mother have taken both doses of the vaccine, and asked people not to believe in rumours and trust science and scientists.

    “The threat of COVID-19 remains and we have to focus on vaccination as well as follow COVID-19 protocols,” the PM said.

  • Rift within Madhya Pradesh unit of  BJP over COVID crisis

    By Express News Service
    BHOPAL: Resentment is growing within the ranks of the ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh over the government’s handling of the Covid-19 situation in the state.  

    Two BJP lawmakers, a former minister, and two young leaders of the party have publicly expressed their disappointment over the handling of the Covid-19 situation in the state in recent days.

    Narayan Tripathi, the BJP MLA from the Maihar seat of the Satna district recently wrote a letter to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, stating that the ‘tamasha’ of virtual meetings won’t address the grave situation, but a month-long total lock-down is urgently needed in the state.  He also urged the government to conduct door-to-door testing and expand the vaccination programme.

    Just a few days prior to it, another MLA of the ruling party, ex-minister and Bhojpur legislator Surendra Patwa wrote to health minister Dr Prabhuram Chowdhary complaining about the state of hospitals in the state. Both, Patwa and Chowdhary are BJP legislators from the same Raisen district.

    Another senior BJP leader and ex-minister Anup Mishra (nephew of Atal Bihari Vajpayee) too had recently attacked the government over the rampant black marketing of oxygen and Remdesivir.

    “Oxygen and Remdesivir injections are being black-marketed. They are available either with middlemen or influential politicians, but not with the commoners, who need them,” Mishra had tweeted recently.  

    Further, Monu Patel, the nephew of Union Minister Prahlad Patel, alleging that the entire system had collapsed and the authorities were hiding the real picture.

  • Uncontrolled COVID-19 surge prompts imposing Sunday lockdown in urban Madhya Pradesh

    By Express News Service
    BHOPAL: Sunday lockdown was announced on Wednesday in urban areas of all 52 districts of Madhya Pradesh amid the uncontrolled surge of the second COVID-19 wave across the central Indian state. 

    A high-level meeting chaired by CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan also decided to impose a night curfew (10 pm to 6 am) in urban areas of all districts, which will be effective from Thursday.

    Further, it was also decided to impose a weeklong lockdown from 7 pm on Thursday in Chhindwara district, which neighbours Maharashtra. 

    Further, the meeting also cleared the decks for two days of lockdown in Shajapur district operational from 8 pm on Wednesday evening. Also, all government offices would function 5 days a week for the next three months (Monday-Friday from 10 am to 6 pm).

    The development came just a few hours after the CM, while maintaining that lockdown will always be the last option to control the spread of COVID-19 second wave, had said that lockdown in some districts cannot be ruled out if it’s necessary to save lives.He had also ordered a ban on the movement of passenger vehicles to and from Chhattisgarh till April 15.

    Shivraj Singh Chouhan also informed about raising the number of hospital beds for COVID patients from the present 24,000 to 36,000. The number of free beds for the poor will be increased to 15,000.

    Further, the daily free of cost COVID testing facilities for suspected patients would be raised to 40,000. Also, the maximum rate of RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen testing by private labs/hospitals was fixed at Rs 700 and Rs 300 per test respectively. An additional Rs 200 would be chargeable in case of samples being collected from home.

    Also, the maximum rates for other tests at private hospitals/nursing homes and diagnostic labs were fixed by the government, including Rs 600 for ABG, Rs 500 for D-Dimer, Rs 1000 for Procalcitonin and IL-6, Rs 200 for CRP and Rs 180 for Serum Ferritin. Additional Rs 200 would be a chargeable per test if the samples are to be collected from home.

    Keeping in mind the rising demand for the Remdesivir Injections amid reports of shortage of supply and black marketing of the anti-viral injection in Indore, the CM also announced determining SOPs and Protocols for the use of the injection at hospitals across the state. The CM also announced that the state government would procure Remdesivir Injections for rendering it free to poor and middle-class patients.

    Also, a door to door survey campaign titled Kill Corona-2 will be started in those districts, where the pandemic surge is rising fast. The campaign would identify the houses having suspected COVID-19 patients.

    Also, each of the 52 districts will have at least one COVID Care  Centre.

    The slew of decisions came amid the state reporting 4043 fresh cases and13 deaths over the past 24 hours, which took the total active cases in the state to 26,059, total positive cases since March 2021 to 3,18,014 and total deaths to 4086.

    The daily positivity rate which stood at 11.1% on Tuesday further rose to 12% on Wednesday.

    Over the last 24 hours, at least six districts of the state reported fresh cases in three digit figures, including Indore (866), Bhopal (618), Jabalpur  (269), Gwalior (181), Ujjain (123), Barwani (108) and Umaria (114). Out of these two districts, Barwani and Umaria are largely rural districts.

  • Madhya Pradesh to restrict movement of people from Chhattisgarh: Shivraj Singh Chouhan

    By PTI
    BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh government will restrict the movement of people from neighbouring Chhattisgarh to curb the spread of COVID-19 and a lockdown will be enforced in isolated areas whenever needed, MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Sunday.

    Talking to reporters here, Chouhan said they have already sealed Madhya Pradesh’s areas bordering Maharashtra.

    “There will now be restrictions on movement from Chhattisgarh. Those who need to come for necessary and unavoidable work will be allowed on humanitarian grounds and transportation of goods will continue,” he said, citing the spread of COVID-19 in the neighbouring states.

    Chouhan said patience is needed to control the pandemic.

    “I will go out with a loudspeaker on my vehicle at 6 pm on Monday and appeal to people to maintain physical distance and wear masks,” the chief minister said.

    Maharashtra on Saturday reported 49,447 new COVID-19 cases, the highest rise in a day so far, taking its tally to 29,53,523.

    Besides, Chhattisgarh recorded 5,818 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, its highest single-day spike, taking the count of infections in the state to 3,63,796, as per official figures.

    Chouhan said those coming to MP from these states for necessary and unavoidable work were being screened.

    If found necessary, they will be kept in isolation, but the general movement of people will not be allowed.

    “They are our brothers and sisters, but we have to take such measures to control the spread of the coronavirus,” he said.

    The CM said more than 3,000 fresh cases of coronavirus were reported in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday.

    He also said there will be a limited lockdown in the affected areas whenever needed, but there will be “no lockdown in the entire state”.

    He urged social workers and religious leaders to run a public awareness campaign to check the spread of the viral infection.

    Chouhan noted that a three-day lockdown is going on in Chhindwara and two-day restrictions are in place in Betul.

    “I don’t want such lockdowns because this affects businesses and employment.

    Our priority is to protect the people without a lockdown,” he said.

    Chouhan said the BJP is likely to announce an awareness campaign on Sunday under which its MLAs, MPs and other leaders will appeal to people to use masks and maintain social distancing to defeat the coronavirus.