Amid Surge In Coronavirus Cases, Madhya Pradesh Announces 10-Day Lockdown In Bhopal From July 24 To August 2

New Delhi: With a sudden spike in the number of coronavirus cases in the last one week in Madhya Pradesh’s capital Bhopal, the MP government on Wednesday announced a 10-day lockdown in the state capital. The city has been seeing the highest single-day jump in COVID cases from past few days – on Wednesday itself Bhopal witnessed 210 fresh infections and has now over 1,200 active cases. So far, about 4,669 COVID-19 cases have been registered in Bhopal, leading to 142 deaths. Keeping the rise in miND, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said that lockdown will be imposed in Bhopal from July 24 to August 2 in wake of the increasing COVID-19 cases in the city. Sharing details of the lockdown on his social media he said,

A decision has been taken to implement 10-day lockdown in Bhopal from the night of July 24 to August 2. This decision has been taken in view of the situation of the coronavirus infection in the Madhya Pradesh capital city.

Also Read: Coronavirus State Report: All You Need To Know About Madhya Pradesh’s War Against COVID-19

भोपाल में 24 जुलाई की रात से लेकर 2 अगस्त तक 10 दिन लॉकडाउन लागू करने का फैसला लिया गया है। मध्यप्रदेश की राजधानी में कोरोना संक्रमण की स्थिति को देखते हुए ये फैसला लिया गया है। pic.twitter.com/Sx1JHOrY9z

— Dr Narottam Mishra (@drnarottammisra) July 22, 2020

Further highlighting the details about the lockdown, Mr Mishra said that during the lockdown in the state capital, only essential services be allowed to function. He added,

In this 10-day lockdown in Bhopal, only medicines, milk, vegetables and government ration shops will remain open. Therefore, all the people of Bhopal are requested to make arrangements for the necessary goods in two days. Like the earlier lockdown for commuters, only e-pass will be allowed.

भोपाल में 10 दिन के लॉकडाउन के दौरान सिर्फ दवा, दूध, सब्जी और सरकारी राशन की दुकानें ही खुली रहेंगी। इसलिए भोपाल के सभी लोगों से आग्रह है कि वो ज़रूरी सामानों का इंतजाम दो दिन में कर लें। आने-जाने वालों के लिए पहले के लॉकडाउन की तरह ही ई पास पर ही अनुमति मिल सकेगी। pic.twitter.com/E7vulo3O9D

— Dr Narottam Mishra (@drnarottammisra) July 22, 2020

The Home Minister also urged the people of the city not to create panic and said that the steps are being taken only to make the situation better as lockdown will help break the chain of the highly contagious virus. He said,

The lockdown will end on the morning of August 4. There will be the availability of essential goods, directions have been given to provide ration to the poor, so there is no need to panic. We all have to work together to control the coronavirus infection.

Also Read: MP’s Worst Hit COVID-19 District Records 66 Per Cent Recovery: All You Need To Know About Indore’s Fight Against Coronavirus

लॉकडाउन 4 अगस्त की सुबह खत्म हो जाएगा। आवश्यक वस्तुओं की उपलब्धता रहेगी, गरीबों को राशन उपलब्ध कराने के निर्देश दिए जा चुके हैं, इसलिए घबराने की ज़रूरत नहीं है। कोरोना संक्रमण को हम सबको मिलकर नियंत्रित करने की जरूरत है। https://t.co/BkhPUc6jCq

— Dr Narottam Mishra (@drnarottammisra) July 22, 2020

As far as the whole state in concerned, Madhya Pradesh, as of July 23 has a total of 24,842 COVID-19 cases, of which, 16,863 people have successfully recovered and around 7,236 are currently active. In the battle against coronavirus, MP has lost a total of 771 lives according to the data by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Overall, Madhya Pradesh has also decided to go into complete lockdown two days of the week in highly affected areas of the state to fight the spike in coronavirus cases. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had made the announcement on July 20 and said all activities, except essential services, will be restricted during this period in these areas. He has said Sunday will be a compulsory day for the lockdown in the state adding that the other day can be Saturday or Monday and can be decided by the district crisis management group.

Also Read: A Group Of Good Samaritans In Madhya Pradesh Is Feeding, Providing Essentials To The Labourers Amid Covid-19 Lockdown

Experts View: Does The Short-Term Lockdown Model Work To Beat Coronavirus?

Dr Naresh Trehan, Chairman Medanta talking about the rational lockdown model that all India states are following said,

I don’t know what these short lockdowns will achieve for the country, but there must be some thought process behind it and that’s why state governments across are following it. As a doctor, I know that the virus will spread from one place to the another, as it is the pattern of the disease which we all have seen in the last six or seven months. Lockdowns can only delay that spread process and till the time we have any vaccine or medication, the only way forward is to break the chain ourselves. We need to be extra vigilant about getting the virus, we need to wash our hands every 20 minutes with soap and water, we need to stay home, we need to pretend like we are in lockdown and function like we are not.

Renowned epidemiologist Jayprakash Muliyil, former principal of Christian Medical College, Vellore adds,

The weekend or short-term lockdown might not be of any use. The virus will get transmitted, in past also we have seen that lockdown can only delay the transmission process but not break the chain of the virus or kill it completely.

Also Read: India Seeing Over 30,000 Coronavirus Cases A Day. Experts Explain The Spike

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swasth India campaign is an extension of the five-year-old Banega Swachh India initiative helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. It aims to spread awareness about critical health issues facing the country. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign highlights the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children to prevent maternal and child mortality, fight malnutrition, stunting, wasting, anaemia and disease prevention through vaccines. Importance of programmes like Public Distribution System (PDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyan and the role of Aganwadis and ASHA workers are also covered. Only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and become a Swasth or healthy India. The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene.