Bhopal: Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan on Saturday announced that Madhya Pradesh will gradually start unlocking the Covid restriction from June 1 and urged people to intensify efforts to make the state Covid free by May 31.
Chouhan said that as the Covid cases have started dipping in Madhya Pradesh and as a result, the state government is planning to unlock the COVID-19 lockdown gradually from June 1.
"We cannot remain closed for all eternity," the CM said while interacting with senior officials of the state.
Read:|COVID-19 pace slowing down in MP, Chouhan tells PM Modi
To make Madhya Pradesh Covid free, the Kill Corona campaign will continue, he added.
Urging people to be ready to face the third Covid wave, he said that a micro containment zone will be created, so that the chain of infection could be broken.
He also asserted to speed up the Covid vaccination drive while maintaining that assemblies and gatherings need strict monitoring.
Meanwhile, the district administration in Bhopal on Saturday extended the COVID-19-induced curfew in the Madhya Pradesh capital till June 1.
The 'Corona curfew' was first enforced on April 12 due to the spike in COVID-19 cases and it has been extended several times.
The last extension was valid till May 24 and the curfew was supposed to be lifted at 6 am on that day.
According to the order issued by district collector Avinash Lavaniya, the curfew has been extended in the areas under Bhopal Municipal Corporation and Berasia town till 6 am on June 1.
The essential services and emergency travel are exempted from the purview of the restrictions.
Read:|Congress leader Kamal Nath claims 1.5 lakh deaths due to Covid in MP
Earlier, while attacking the Shivraj Singh Chauhan government over the mishandling of Covid, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath said that the state government was hiding the death toll from Covid-19. Kamal Nath said that more than 1.5 lakh corona patients have died in the state.
The former MP CM added that as per the figures gathered by him, 1,27, 503 deaths have occurred in March and April. Out of this figure, 80 per cent of these deaths were due to Covid-19.
As per Kamal Nath, the MP government has suppressed all these figures, which is why Covid-19 has taken such a formidable form. Kamal Nath further said, "According to this figure, nearly 51,000 dead bodies have reached the crematorium every day. Of this, 80 per cent of deaths have occurred from Covid-19."
Accusing the BJP government and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Kamal Nath said that the state government only understands the politics of stunts.
In response to Kamal Nath's charge, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said that despite sitting on a constitutional post, Kamal Nath is spreading confusion in the state. He stated that the entire Congress party speak lies.
The MP Home Minister also added that the Congress leader is now spreading lies about the deaths of 1.5 lakh people in the state due to Covid-19 and Kamal Nath should give proof of his allegations.
On the other hand, senior BJP leader and Union minister Prakash Javadekar also slammed Kamal Nath for allegedly linking a coronavirus variant with India and accused the Congress of making frequent statements to "insult" the country and weaken its fight against COVID-19.
Read:|Madhya Pradesh: Elderly man dies at hospital doorstep due to delayed medical aid
He told reporters that Congress was not playing the role of a responsible opposition and had instead fallen to doing negative politics.
He alleged that Nath used the term "Indian corona" during an interaction and noted that even the World Health Organisation (WHO) has clarified that any variant is not named after any country.
Javadekar said, "He (Nath) did not stop there and said 'hamari pahchan mera Bharat covid'... This is an insult to India. Many Congress leaders are making such statements. Many leaders said this is an Indian variant."
So far, Madhya Pradesh has recorded nearly 7.57 lakh covid positive cases with 6.82 lakh recoveries and 7,394 deaths.
(with inputs from agencies)
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