Madhya Pradesh reported 64,082 COVID-19 cases– coming from all 52 districts– during the month of September, nearly double the number of cases reported in the state till August end.
The case tally stands at 1, 28,047 in the state on Wednesday evening, according to the data released by the state health department.
Besides, 922 deaths were reported in September, which is 40 per cent of all the deaths (2,316) reported till now in the state. Till August 31, the state had 63, 695 COVID-19 cases and 1,394 deaths, a quick analysis of the health department data shows.
Commercial hub Indore, with 24,006 cases, continues to be the biggest contributor to the tally in the state. After some slowdown in August, the city is back to reporting maximum number of cases in the state per day. On Wednesday, 482 cases were reported in Indore. The death toll here is 565.
Bhopal reported 278 cases during the past 24 hours, and its tally was up to 17,408 on Wednesday evening. The capital has reported 392 deaths up till now. Gwalior has a tally of 10,529 and death toll of 130 while Jabalpur has 9,774 cases and 150 deaths till Wednesday evening.
The massive surge in the cases during the month of September was in tune with the steep rise reported all over the country as restrictions that were mostly in place till August 31 were almost completely lifted during the month.
In Madhya Pradesh, the surge could be attributed to heightened political activities ahead of the announcement of bypolls to 28 crucial seats. Both the ruling BJP and opposition Congress have held several rallies across the state, and demonstrations and protests on several issues were held where the COVID-19 protocols and preventive measures were violated with impunity.
On Tuesday, MP Home Minister Narottam Mishra, who recently faced flak over his defiant stand on not wearing face mask in public, underlined the importance of use of face mask and other preventive measures to keep the pandemic in control.
Speaking to the media, Mishra said the recovery rate is improving and the number of active cases is going down across the nation and in MP. “One has to watch the situation for another seven days and if the trend continues, then probably we can assume that the pandemic has reached its peak in India. If not, we have to rethink the situation. Till then, all prevention measures should be followed diligently,” he said.
