Nine districts in MP become coronavirus-free: Official

Nine districts in Madhya Pradesh, which had earlier reported COVID-19 cases, have now become coronavirus-free, a state government official has said.

During a meeting held on Friday to review the COVID-19 situation in the state, Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Health, Mohammed Suleman, said that the nine districts- Barwani, Agar-Malwa, Shajapur, Sheopur, Alirajpur, Harda, Shahdol, Tikamgarh and Betul- have become coronavirus-free.

Besides, no COVID-19 case has been reported in eight districts of the state so far, he said.

Testing has been increased in the state, he said, adding that at least 5,822 swab samples were collected on Friday alone and so far, 93,849 samples have been tested.

Of the 4,595 coronavirus positive cases reported in the state till Friday, 45 per cent were active ones, Suleman said during the meeting.

According to the health department's latest data, COVID-19 cases were reported in 32 districts till May 1 and as of May 15, its footprints extended to 44 out of 52 districts in the state.

In some districts, fresh cases were reported following the arrival of migrant workers, an official said.

Damoh district recorded its first case on Friday, when a migrant worker, who arrived from Mumbai, tested positive for the infection, he said.

Till Friday evening, 239 patients have succumbed to the infection.

During the meeting, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan directed the officials to conduct proper screening of migrants, who are arriving in MP from other states.

Chouhan said that as on Friday, 3.39 lakh migrants have arrived in MP.

People hailing from other states, who are stranded in MP, are also being dropped till the state border.

A total of 10,000 buses have been deployed for transportation of migrants and as many as 77 special trains have arrived in state till Friday, he said.