MP govt imposes lockdown in all urban areas from Friday

Bhopal, Apr 08: Amid an alarming increase in COVID-19 cases, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday announced lockdown measures for weekends without a particular timeline.

"There will be a lockdown in all urban areas of the entire Madhya Pradesh from 6 pm on Friday till 6 am on Monday. We are also setting up containment zones in big cities. My intention has never been to impose a complete lockdown," Chouhan announced on Thursday.

The state added 4,043 new coronavirus cases, taking the infection tally in the state to 3,18,014. With 13 more fatalities, the death toll has climbed to 4,086.

The government also announced a lockdown in urban areas of all districts on every Sunday till further orders, and a lockdown in the entire Chhindwara district for the next seven days beginning from 8 pm on Thursday.

"In view of increasing cases of COVID-19, all the government offices of the state will be open 5 days a week (Monday to Friday), from 10 am to 6 pm for the next 3 months. The government offices will remain closed on Saturday-Sunday," the Chief Minister''s Office (CMO) said in a tweet while informing about the decisions taken in a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

"Night curfew will be clamped in all the urban areas of the state till further orders from 10 pm to 6 am every night from April 8. In the urban areas of all districts of the state, there will be a lockdown on every Sunday till further orders," it tweeted.

In another tweet, CMO said that there will be a "complete lockdown in the entire Chhindwara district for the next 7 days from 8 pm on Thursday. There will be a complete lockdown for the next 2 days from 8 pm tonight (Wednesday) in Shajapur city".