Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has claimed there has been a significant improvement in curbing the spread of COVID-19 in the state.
During a video conference on Sunday evening to review the situation and arrangements being made across Madhya Pradesh for tackling the COVID-19 crisis, Chouhan said the state stands second in the country in terms of recovery rate, and eighth in the number of cases.
"All COVID-19 parameters in the state have improved significantly. On Sunday, the number of active cases came down by 151 after 300 patients recovered and went home. Now our active cases are 2,666," a public relations official quoted the chief minister as saying.
"The doubling time of cases in the state has increased to 34.1 days and the recovery rate has gone up to 71.1 per cent. These are very good signs for the state," Chouhan said.
Madhya Pradesh stands second in the country in terms of recovery rate after Rajasthan, which has the highest recovery rate of 75.3 per cent, he said.
The recovery rate in Gujarat is 68.9 per cent, Uttar Pradesh- 60 per cent and Tamil Nadu- 54.8 per cent, he said, adding that the country's recovery rate is 50.6 per cent.
Till Sunday, Madhya Pradesh reported 10,802 COVID-19 cases and 459 deaths due to the disease.
The chief minister said the pace of COVID-19 spread in the state has been the slowest in the country.
The doubling time of cases in Madhya Pradesh is 34.1 days, while that of the country is 18.4 days. The doubling time in Gujarat has been 30.2 days, Rajasthan 26.7 days, Maharashtra 21 days and Uttar Pradesh 18.6 days, he said.
Chouhan further said the death rate in the state has to be minimised, for which best medical care should be ensured in all hospitals treating COVID-19 patients.
Treatment protocols should be followed completely and special attention should be paid to every patient, he said.
Following the easing of restrictions, people need to be made aware that they should take all necessary precautions, the chief minister said.
Wearing masks, maintaining distance of two yards (six feet), washing hands with soap frequently, using sanitiser, and not spitting are all essential, he said, adding that public support should be taken to spread this awareness.
During the meeting, a senior health official informed that Madhya Pradesh's Indore ranked 7th among the 15 cities most affected by COVID-19 in the country.
The state capital Bhopal, which was earlier in the list, is not among them now, he said.
