MP CM warns COVID spreading to villages, declares strict lockdown till May 15

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has extended the statewide lockdown till May 15, mainly in the backdrop of increasing coronavirus cases in small towns and villages of the state. Effectively, the lockdown will stay till May 17 (Sunday), because the state is already under week-end lockdown.

“The Chief Minister sitting in Bhopal cannot control spread of coronavirus in villages. Panchayats have to gear up and take responsibility. There are several instances of panchayats controlling pandemic by imposing lockdown in their villages,” said the CM while speaking at a virtual conference titled, ‘Kill Corona Mission Part -2′, on Thursday (May 6). Chouhan said it is high time people follow COVID protocol with full seriousness or else the pandemic will spread rapidly to rural areas and then it will be difficult to check the transmission.

“Little carelessness and we will land in big trouble because the pandemic is now spreading to villages,” the CM warned. Even before Chouhan made the announcement, about 15 districts of Madhya Pradesh have extended lockdown till May 15.

Also read: 84% of India’s latest COVID-19 cases reported from just 8 states

Implementation of corona curfew has been left to the local district administration. Chouhan also declared the formation of constituency-wise crisis management groups, which will be lead by the local MLA and will include Sub-Divisional Magistrate, local politicians and social welfare groups.

The respective district guardian minister and MP will have to take responsibility to stop the spread of infection in rural areas.

Chouhan also declared that works taken up under MNREGA, which provides employment to rural populace, will be suspended till May 15 in villages where positive cases are found.

Also read: Be prepared for third wave of COVID-19: SC tells Centre

A total of 2,421 positive cases were reported in the state in the last 24 hours with 86 deaths. The state’s active case load stands at 88,614, but the good news is that positivity rate has dropped to 18.2%. Madhya Pradesh’s total caseload so far stands at 6.37 lakh.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has extended the statewide lockdown till May 15, mainly in the backdrop of increasing coronavirus cases in small towns and villages of the state. Effectively, the lockdown will stay till May 17 (Sunday), because the state is already under week-end lockdown.