E-Paper
Madhya Pradesh lockdown: Over 1,000 fresh cases for 2 days amid restrictions
The state's shared border with Maharashtra, general violation of Covid-19 rules are being seen as factors that contributed to the steady rise of daily infections in Madhya Pradesh.
Madhya Pradesh, which was badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, is again on the radar as the number of fresh infections from this state is on a steady rise. Last year, during the early outbreak of the pandemic, the state was caught in a political crisis, as the incumbent government fell making way for the BJP government, which was blamed for the mismanagement of the pandemic situation at that time.
As the overall Covid-19 situation in the country has been worsening with the infection spreading unabated, Madhya Pradesh has again emerged as a cause of concern in 2021. In the past week, the state saw the highest daily surge in the year.
Here is all you need to know about the Madhya Pradesh Covid-19 situation
> On Saturday, the states added 1,308 fresh infections, which was the second consecutive day that the daily infection tally breached the 1,000-mark. On march 19, 1,140 cases were recorded.
> In the last week of February, the state was adding around 200-300 infections daily. Starting from March, there was a steep rise in the cases and in this week, the state reported the maximum rise this year, according to Union health ministry data.
Sunday lockdown returns in 3 districts of MP after 7 months amid Covid-19 surge
> The number of recoveries, on the other hand, is not increasing. The state has been reporting around 500 daily recoveries. With the daily infections now rising, the gap between daily cases and daily recoveries is wide.
> The state's shared border with Maharashtra is being seen as a contributing factor to the rise, though district authorities restricted the movement of people in the bordering districts when cases were rising in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region in February.
> The outbreak of cases in Madhya Pradesh is concentrated in some cities including Bhopal and Indore. There are some districts that are not reporting any new infection.
> Bhopal and Indore were brought under night curfew from March 17. Sunday lockdowns have been imposed in these two cities and Jabalpur.
> Markets in eight cities namely Jabalpur, Gwalior, Ujjain, Ratlam, Burhanpur, Chhindwara, Betul, Khargone are being shut at 10 pm, from March 17. This will be effective until further orders.
> Barwani district administration has imposed section 144 in the district.
> The state government has made seven-day home quarantine mandatory for people coming from Maharashtra.
> The movement of passengers buses between Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh has been banned from March 20.
