Sunday will be a compulsory day for the lockdown in highly affected districts (File)
Madhya Pradesh will 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, making the announcement, said all activities, except essential services, will be restricted during this period in these areas.
Sunday will be a compulsory day for the lockdown, Mr Chouhan said, adding that the other day - Saturday or Monday - will be decided by the district crisis management group.
"In a bid to prevent coronavirus infection, there will now be lockdown in districts with high infection rate for two consecutive days in a week. All activities, except essential services, will be restricted during this period," Mr Chouhan said in a review meeting.
This comes after Bengal announced a 2-day compulsory lockdown in the state every week amid rising COVID-19 cases. Uttar Pradesh had earlier declared a lockdown in the state on weekends to fight the deadly disease.
There will also be a night curfew in every district in Madhya Pradesh from 8 pm to 5 am in view of rising cases, Shivraj Chouhan announced at the meeting.
He also said all offices of the state and Central governments will function with 30 per cent to 50 per cent capacity in all districts, except in the unaffected districts where offices will function with their fullest strength.
Private offices and business establishments will also function with 30 per cent to 50 per cent of capacity.
However if any positive case is detected, the office will be shut for a week.
Mr Chouhan also added that government employees not wearing masks and not following social distancing rules will be punished. He also urged people to celebrate festivals in their homes.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the state stood at 23,310 as on Monday while the death count mounted to 738.