Bhopal: A week-long “corona curfew” was imposed in Bhopal city on Monday night to curb the rising cases of COVID-19 in the Madhya Pradesh capital.

The curfew came into force at 9 pm and will remain effective till 6 am on April 19, an official order said.

A decision to impose the curbs on the movement of people and operation of business and commercial establishments was taken at a meeting of the district crisis management committee on a day when Bhopal recorded more than 800 COVID-19 infections.

Bhopal Collector Avinash Lavaniya issued an order under section 144 of the CrPC which deals with the gathering and movement of people.

As per the order, all business establishments would remain closed during the “corona curfew” and movement of people and vehicles would also be restricted.

The order said the curfew would be applicable to all areas falling under the Bhopal Municipal Corporation and the adjoining Berasia municipality.
However, emergency services have been exempted from the purview of the curfew, the collector said.

With this, Bhopal has become the 19th district where corona curfew has been imposed to stem the spread of the infection.

The other places where strict coronavirus-related curbs have been imposed include Indore, Jabalpur, and Ujjain.

Bhopal reported 824 fresh COVID-19 infections on Monday, taking the caseload to 58,951 in the district, according to a state health department bulletin.

The state capital reported three more fatalities, pushing the toll to 649, it said.

Bhopal currently has 5,438 active cases, the bulletin said.

On Sunday, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said a lockdown will not be imposed in Madhya Pradesh, but “corona curfew” has been enforced in some parts of the state with people’s support to control the COVID-19 spread.