With COVID-19 cases showing a considerable spike in the first eight days of July, the Madhya Pradesh government has decided to impose total lockdown every Sunday across the state with immediate effect. The decision was taken at a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday.
Data released by the state health department shows that till Wednesday evening, Madhya Pradesh had reported 16,036 COVID-19 cases and 629 deaths. Of these, 2,083 cases and 57 deaths have been reported since July 1.
This means that for the first eight days of the month, an average of 260 positive cases were reported each day. Earlier in June, 183 cases, on average, were reported each day.
On Wednesday, Madhya Pradesh recorded a new single-day spike in cases, seeing 409 infections.
Speaking at the review meeting, Chouhan conceded that the COVID-19 growth rate had increased from 1.72 per cent to 2.01 per cent during the past week, especially due to a spike in cases in border districts.
Madhya Pradesh had made rules quite lenient during the second unlock period of July, opening up all public spaces and offices, except cinema halls, gyms and entertainment zones. Ban is only imposed on large public gatherings of any nature. With commercial activities allowed till 10.00pm, public life had almost returned to pre-lockdown situation and large-scale violation of physical distancing and mask-sanitiser use norms was also reported.
One of the other reasons for the spike in positive cases is the increase of testing in the state during the past three weeks. From around 4,300 tests per million as of June 25, the average testing rate in the state has gone up to 6,032 per million as of July 8. Health experts had predicted spike in positive cases once testing was ramped up.
Gwalior-Chambal hotspots
The border districts that have shown spike in cases are actually in the poll-bound Gwalior-Chambal region where political activities have increased during the past two weeks as bypolls loom. On Wednesday, Morena that borders Rajasthan and is in Chambal region, reported 115 positive cases, the highest in the state. The total positive cases in Morena now stand at 833, of which 425 cases or 51 per cent of the cases were reported in the past eight days, an analysis of the health department statistics shows.
Similarly, Gwalior reported 68 new cases on Wednesday, taking the total there to 712. Of these, 344 or 48 per cent cases have been reported in the past eight days.
Bhopal, Indore continues to top chart
Cases in capital Bhopal—that has also witnessed increased political activities in the recent past—have also shown a surge. On Wednesday, 70 cases were reported in Bhopal, taking its total to 3,225, the second highest in the state. The capital has reported 115 deaths till now. In the first eight days of July, 436 positive cases and 18 deaths have been reported.
Indore, with a total of 4,998 cases and 252 deaths till Wednesday, continues to top the COVID-19 chart in the state. However, during the past eight days, the commercial hub has reported 289 cases—which is considerably lower than Bhopal and Gwalior-Morena—and 23 deaths.
During the review meeting on Wednesday, it was decided that stricter implementation of wearing masks in public and office spaces, shops and malls will be ensured along with use of sanitisers. Similarly physical distancing norms will have to be followed strictly. Violation of norms will attract fine, it has been decided.
Also, the chief secretary and the director-general of police have been asked to chalk out mechanisms for preventing the infection from across the state borders. The officials have been asked to work out and issue a detailed public advisory in this regard.
