The Rajasthan government has declared a strict lockdown from May 10 to May 24, and Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has stated that a decision on imposing a lockdown in the state will be made in the next two or three days.
With the number of reported cases continuing to rise, several states called for or extended lockdowns and curfews on Thursday, with Kerala declaring a nine-day lockdown beginning Saturday morning and Madhya Pradesh extending the curfew until May 15.
In Bhopal, MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan urged people to observe public curfews and declared free care for the poor under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme for Covid-19. The government will collaborate with private hospitals to create a package that will provide free treatment to people under the new scheme. In order to get the situation under control, Chouhan urged people to cancel all weddings, referring to them as “super-spreader activities,” and said MGNREGA work should be halted in villages reporting positive cases.
“Jeevan mein shaadi hoti hai, Jeevan nahi rahega toh shaadi kis kaam ki (there will be weddings in one’s life, but how will marriages take place if there is no life),” Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, urging people to cancel and delay weddings unless they can be performed remotely He said that he would attend such weddings digitally and bestow his blessings.
The Kerala government declared that essential services, agricultural, NREGS, and similar livelihood activities would be allowed, but that all state and Central government offices, with the exception of those in essential services, would remain closed throughout the lockdown, which would end at midnight on May 16th.
Kerala registered over 42,000 new cases on Thursday, the highest daily count in the state’s history, bringing the active caseload to 3.90 lakh. The government has ordered all district collectors in the state to ensure the welfare of migrant workers.
