Madhya Pradesh bans movement of buses to and from Maharashtra to check coronavirus spread

Bhopal, Mar 18: The Madhya Pradesh government on Thursday announced a ban on movement of passenger buses to and from Mahrarashtra from March 20 in view of the alarming rise in coronavirus cases in the neighboring state.

The decision was taken by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan during a meeting to review the COVID-19 situation with municipal commissioners and district collectors, an official said.

The government has already advised officials in border districts to place the passengers arriving from Maharashtra in week-long quarantine. Markets and business establishments in the districts which are affected most due to the pandemic, including Gwalior, Jabalpur, Ujjain, Sagar, Betul, Burhanpur, Khargone, Ratlam and Chhindwara, will remain closed from 10 PM to 6 AM, it was decided during the meeting.

In Indore and Bhopal cities, night curfew from 10 PM to 6 AM is already in force from Wednesday. The vaccination target will be raised to 5 lakh doses per day by setting targets for each district.

Chouhan also said that wastage of vaccine doses was a "national wastage" and it should not happen. Madhya Pradesh on Thursday reported 917 coronavirus positive cases, taking its tally to 2,71,957 while with one more death, the toll rose to 3,894.