MP Begins Easing Curbs in Some Districts as Covid-19 Cases Decline

The Madhya Pradesh government has begun unlocking restrictions in various districts as Covid-19 infections are showing a consistent fall.

After consultations with district administrations, the zilla crisis committee decided to ease Covid-19 rules in five districts: Jhabua, Alirajpur, Burhanpur, Bhind and Khandwa.

Based on the feedback from these places, a decision will be taken for other districts in the state after June 1, sources told News18.

The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government had on May 18 extended the ‘corona curfew’ in all 52 districts of the state for different durations. In the industrial hub of Indore, it is in force till May 29 night.

State capital Bhopal is under curfew till June 1. The ‘Corona curfew’ was first enforced on April 12 due to the spike in COVID-19 cases and it has been extended several times. The last extension was valid till May 24 and the curfew was supposed to be lifted at 6 am. According to the order issued by district collector Avinash Lavaniya, the curfew has been extended in the areas under Bhopal Municipal Corporation and Berasia town till 6 am on June 1.

The essential services and emergency travel are exempted from the purview of the restrictions, he said.

Ban on buses extended

The Madhya Pradesh government’s ban on the movement of buses from Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan into the state in force till Sunday has also been extended till May 31. The order issued by the Additional Commissioner (Transport) Arvind Saxena also stated that the ban covers vehicles with All India tourist permits.

Recoveries outnumber new cases

Madhya Pradesh Sunday reported 3,375 new coronavirus cases and 75 fatalities, taking the state’s infection tally to 7,64,338 and death toll to 7,558, the health department said. Recoveries outnumbered the new COVID-19 cases in the state, bringing down the count of patients under treatment below the 60,000-mark. The state is now left with 57,766 active cases, it said.

A total of 7,587 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking the count of recoveries in Madhya Pradesh to 6,99,014, the department said. With 829 new infections, Indore’s caseload went up to 1,45,301, while that of Bhopal rose by 577 to 1,17,707.

With six deaths during the day, Indore’s fatality count increased to 1,307. Bhopal recorded four deaths, taking the cumulative toll to 909, the department said. Indore is now left with 9,684 active cases and Bhopal 9,084, it said.

With 79,083 new tests, the overall test count in Madhya Pradesh rose to 93,07,323, the department said. So far this month, the state has recorded 1,97,167 cases and 1,853 fatalities.

The coronavirus figures in MP are as follows: Total case count 7,64,338, new cases 3,375, death toll 7,558, recovered 6,99,014, active cases 57,766, number of tests so far 93,07,323.

(Inputs by Vivek Trivedi)

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