• Source:JND
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Bhopal | Jagran News Desk: Ahead of the approaching festival season, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday announced night curfew in the state from 11 pm to 5 am in wake of the rising Omicron cases in the state. This came days after the Centre advised states to consider night curfews and take strict actions to contain the spread of the new variant which is said to be 3 times more transmissible than the Delta variant, which led to the devastating second wave in the country.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh has not reported any case of Omicron variant, however, 14 foreign returnees in Indore have tested positive for COVID-19 and their samples have been sent for genome sequencing.

Of 3,300 persons who flew to Indore from foreign countries via different airports in the country in the last month, 2,100 were screened out of which fourteen tested positive for the viral infection, and their samples have been sent for genome sequencing to the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) to ascertain if they have contracted Omicron variant. 

This came days after another BJP-ruled state Gujarat reimposed a night curfew in 8 major cities till January 31. The night curfew will continue in Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar and Junagarh from 1 am to 5 am in the morning till December 31. In addition, restaurants in these cities are allowed to function with 75 per cent sitting capacity till midnight while the cinema halls can operate at 100 per cent capacity.

Delhi and Karnataka have also clamped restrictions on New Year and Christmas parties in wake of the rising Omicron cases. The Delhi government has directed district magistrates to ensure no Christmas and New Year gathering takes place in the national capital. It also directed that restaurants and bars will continue to operate with up to 50 per cent of the seating capacity. 

Meanwhile, the Karnataka government ordered that new year celebrations at public places will take place in a restricted manner, with celebrations allowed in restaurants and clubs with 50 per cent seating capacity and mandatory full vaccination. No special events, Disk Jockeys (DJ) will be allowed in the celebrations.