With the state witnessing surge in Covid-19 cases, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday announced a 60-hour lockdown in all urban areas of the state effective from 6 pm on Friday till 6 am on Monday.
The chief minister said appropriate actions shall be taken in cities with the increased number of Covid-19 cases. The containment areas will also be made in big cities. The decisions regarding the measures will be taken after a meeting of the crisis management group, the minister said.
Chauhan also urged the people to use of face use face masks, maintain social distancing and sanitise hands frequently in view of the pandemic. Not getting infected with coronavirus is the biggest service of the state today, he tweeted in Hindi.
The announcement comes on a day when Madhya Pradesh will witness a daily night curfew in all urban areas from 10 pm till 6 am. The state government on Wednesday had imposed the night curfew from April 8 and also announced that all the government offices will operate for five days every week for the next three months.
In addition, it was announced that the entire district of Chhindwara will enter a lockdown from Thursday for the next seven days. Also, there will be a complete lockdown for the next 2 days from Wednesday in Shajapur city.
The move comes as fresh infections continue to explode in Madhya Pradesh. The state has recorded over 4000 new cases in a span of 24 hours taking the over tally to over 3, 18 014. While the total fatalities have mounted to 4,086 with 13 new deaths.
Indore and Bhopal are among the biggest cities to contribute towards the highest number of Covid-19 daily cases in the state. With 866 new cases, Indore’s total tally reached 74,895 while in Bhopal, the caseload rose to 55,255 with the addition of 618 cases.