Lockdown in parts of 4 districts of Madhya Pradesh in the wake of COVID-19 surge

The Madhya Pradesh government has placed urban areas of Chhindwara district and Ratlam city under lockdown, while it will come into force in Betul district and parts of Khargone from Friday night to prevent the spread of coronavirus, officials said.

The lockdown in Chhindwara's urban areas and Ratlam city came into force from 10 pm on Thursday, which will continue till 6 am on April 5, they said.

The entire Betul district will be placed under lockdown from 10 pm on Friday and urban areas of Khargone district from 8 pm. The curbs there will continue till 6 am on April 5, the officials said.

Meanwhile, talking to reporters here, state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday said that separate teams of senior officials have been sent to these four districts to assess the coronavirus situation there and provide assistance to the local administration in the fight against the pandemic.

"In view of the spurt in coronavirus cases in Chhindwara, which shares border with Maharashtra, and to effectively control it, a three-day lockdown has been imposed in the district," Chouhan said.

The Sunday lockdown, which is already in place in several cities in the state, will continue as before, he said.

Chouhan appealed to the people of the state to celebrate festivals by remaining at home and added that no rallies or traditional Gair (taken out on the occasion of Rangpanchmi) will be allowed to be organised in the state.

He said that eligible persons should get themselves vaccinated against COVID-19.

Madhya Pradesh on Thursday reported 2,546 coronavirus cases, which took its infection tally to 2,98,057 and the fatality count has gone up to 3,998.