Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday, 8 April, announced that there will be a lockdown in all urban areas in the state from 6 pm on Friday till 6 am on Monday, amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.
"From 6 pm on Friday till 6 am on Monday, a lockdown will be imposed in urban areas in Madhya Pradesh will be closed," he said.
"In cities where cases have increased, appropriate action will be taken after a meeting of the crisis management group. We're demarcating containment areas in big cities," Chouhan was quoted as saying.
On Wednesday, Madhya Pradesh had reported 4,043 new cases and 13 fatalities, taking the tally in the state to 3,18,014 and the death toll to 4,086.
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MP government had on Wednesday suspended bus operations with Chhattisgarh till 15 April amid the surge in infections in the latter state, news agency PTI had reported, citing a Transport Department order.
Earlier, a lockdown for one week was announced for Chhindwara from Thursday, and for two days for Shajapur from Wednesday.
India has seen an unprecedented surge in the number of daily COVID cases over the last few weeks, in what is being called the second wave of the pandemic in the country. On Thursday, 1,26,789 new cases were reported, taking the tally in the country to 1,29,28,574. The death toll increased by 685 to 1,66,862.
This is the highest one-day spike in cases in the country since the pandemic began.
(With inputs from PTI, ANI and The Times of India.)
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