With COVID-19 cases continuing to surge, Madhya Pradesh crossed the 1-lakh mark on Friday when the tally reached 1,00,458 with the highest single-day spike of 2,552 infections. With 24 more deaths in 24 hours, the death toll went up to 1,901, according to the data released by the state health department.
The big worry is that the last 50,000 of these cases have been reported in a mere 28 days, while the first 50,000 cases had taken as many as five months.
Madhya Pradesh had reported the first four cases of COVID-19 on March 20 in Jabalpur. The 50,000-case mark was breached on August 21, when the death toll was at 1,185. So during the past 28 days, 716 deaths were also reported, which is more than one-third (38 per cent) of all the deaths reported till now.
During the day, another minister, Aindal Singh Kansana (public health engineering department), and another MLA, Yashpal Singh Sisodia (of Mandsaur), were tested positive. This takes the total number of Madhya Pradesh ministers who have been infected to 11 and that of MLAs to 29. Also, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tested positive for COVID-19 in the month of July along with other senior BJP leaders.
The state government has made it clear there will be no general lockdown imposed in the state henceforth, unless in very drastic situations as economic activities cannot be hindered any more. Almost all restrictions on commercial and routine activities have been lifted in the state. Political activities, though officially meant to be allowed only after September 21, have heightened already, with the ruling party itself holding several public gatherings over the past few weeks. Even the opposition Congress has now started to ramp up activities.
On Friday, the state government announced guidelines for the upcoming Navratri (Durga Puja) celebrations, allowing community celebrations, but putting restrictions on the size of idol (maximum 6 feet), size of the pandal (10 feet by 10 feet) and presence of persons (maximum 100). Garba dance events and tableau rallies have been banned and only 10 persons will be allowed for the immersion rituals, the guidelines mention.
Fresh spurt in Indore; Gwalior also sees steep rise in cases
The four major cities in Madhya Pradesh continue to show a spurt of cases, expectedly contributing the maximum to the daily tally of cases. On Friday, Indore reported as many as 396 cases, taking its tally to 18,717. The death toll in Indore is 485. Gwalior, the hub of political activities, saw 264 fresh cases in 24 hours, taking its tally to 8,720, while the death toll touched the 100 mark. Bhopal reported 224 cases, taking its tally to 14,339, while the death toll went up to 349. Jabalpur saw a rise of 200 cases, taking its tally to 7,151, while the death toll went up to 120.
