Manipur, Madhya Pradesh opt for stringent lockdowns

Rising number of cases have caused concern to the respective state governments.

The Manipur government announced a seven-day stringent statewide lockdown while Madhya Pradesh announced a 10-day complete shutdown of Bhopal due to spike in coronavirus (Covid-19) cases.

An aerial view of the city during complete lockdown induced by the state to curb coronavirus, in Bhopal.(ANI)

Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh in a social media post on Wednesday evening, said, “A strict 7 days Statewide Lockdown from 2 pm of July 23, 2020 has been imposed by a Cabinet decision at a Cabinet Meeting held today. The lockdown may be extended further for another week beyond 29 July 2020. I appeal to all to abide by the lockdown guidelines.”

The total number of positive cases in Manipur reached 2,060, while the total active and recovered cases stand at 642 and 1418, respectively.

“In the past 24 hours, 45 persons were confirmed as new positive cases ,”Dr Kh Sasheekumar Mangang, additional director and spokesperson of health department said in an official press release.

The Madhya Pradesh Narottam Mishra on Wednesday evening said, “In view of magnitude of coronavirus spread in Bhopal, it will be under a 10-day complete lockdown from 8 pm on July 24 night to August 3 night. However, chemist shops, vegetable vendors, milk parlours, industries and government ration shops will remain exempted from the lockdown.”

As per the state health department, the Covid-19 patients tally in the MP has risen to 24,842 with 770 deaths among them.