Coronavirus: Madhya Pradesh announces night curfew in five cities from Nov 21; check details

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday announced a night curfew in five districts due to rising numbers of COVID-19 cases. The curfew will begin on November 21 at 10 pm.

"Night curfew to be imposed between 10 pm to 6 am, starting from November 21 in Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Vidisha, and Ratlam districts," said Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

This was told during a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday evening to review the COVID-19 situation after a spurt in infection cases, especially in Indore and Bhopal.

However, people engaged in essential services and factory workers have been exempted from the night curfew.

Schools across the state from Class 1 to 8 will continue to remain closed. Students of classes 9 to 12 can visit their schools only for guidance.

Cinema halls will continue to exhibit films at 50% capacity.

On the decision of containment zones, Chief Minister said that they have left the decision to Crisis Management Group.

Earlier, Chief Minister Chouhan had rejected reports that the state government was mulling to impose lockdown again in the view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"No lockdown will be imposed in the state except in containment zones, but the use of mask will be strictly enforced. A balance will be maintained so that neither the economy gets affected nor the coronavirus situation gets out of control," a public relations department said quoting the chief minister, reported PTI.

The state has reported 1,363 new cases and 14 deaths on Thursday, according to the State Health Department.

Madhya Pradesh has so far reported a total of 1,88,018 cases of which 1,75,089 have recovered. A total of 3,129 people have lost their lives due to a deadly pandemic.

(With agency inputs)