MP's COVID-19 count rises by 100 to 1,687; three more die

Bhopal, Apr 23 () With 100 more persons testingpositive for coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh, their count shotup to 1,687 on Thursday, while the death toll rose to 83 withthe addition of three fatalities, health officials said.

Among the new cases reported till 3 pm on Thursday,Ujjain recorded the highest increase of 35 COVID-19 patientsfollowed by Indore 22, Bhopal 20 and Khargone 10, amongothers, they said.

Three more deaths - two from Khargone and one fromIndore - were reported during the period, taking the toll to83, according to a state health department bulletin here.

The virus has expanded its footprint to 25 of the 52districts of the state.

The sole COVID-19 patient found so far in Dindoridistrict was a Chhattisgarh resident and the one in Burhanpurwas from Buldhana town of neighbouring Maharashtra, theofficials said.

A patient in Rajgarh has recovered from COVID-19,making the district coronavirus-free, they said.

The worst-affected Indore leads the coronavirus tallywith 945 cases followed by Bhopal 323, Ujjain 76 and Khargone51, they said.

Among others, Jabalpur has 30 cases (04 new), Dewas 21(01 new), Khandwa 35 (03 new), Sagar 05 (03 new), Gwalior 04(01 new), Tikamgarh 02 (01 new) and Hoshanagabad 26 (01 new).

Apart from these districts, the number of COVID-19cases reported so far from Barwani are 24, Raisen 26, Morena16, Vidisha 13, Ratlam 12, Mandsaur 08, Shajapur 06, four eachin Sheopur and Chhindwara, three in Alirajpur, two in Shivpuriand one in Betul, the bulletin said.

There was no change in figures in these districts tillThursday afternoon, it said.

Three patient hails from other states.

Of the 83 deaths recorded so far, 53 were from Indorealone. So far, seven each have died in Bhopal and Ujjain, sixin Dewas, five in Khargone and one each in Jabalpur, Mandsaur,Chhindwara, Agar Malwa and Dhar.

As many as 203 patients have recovered and returnedhome, the officials said.

The officials said 461 containment areas have beenestablished across the coronavirus-affected cities to curtailthe spread of the deadly infection.

The updated Madhya Pradesh tally: Positive cases1,687; deaths 83; discharged 203; active 1,401; people tested33,074. MASRSY RSY