MP's COVID-19 count rises by 100 to 1,687; 3 more dead

With 100 more persons testing positive for coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh, their count shot up to 1,687 on Thursday, while the death toll rose to 83 with the 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 patients followed by Indore 22, Bhopal 20 and Khargone 10, among others, they said.

Three more deaths - two from Khargone and one from Indore - were reported during the period, taking the toll to 83, according to a state health department bulletin here.

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

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The sole COVID-19 patient found so far in Dindori district was a Chhattisgarh resident and the one in Burhanpur was from Buldhana town of neighbouring Maharashtra, the officials said.

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

The worst-affected Indore leads the coronavirus tally with 945 cases followed by Bhopal 323, Ujjain 76 and Khargone 51, 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-19 cases reported so far from Barwani are 24, Raisen 26, Morena 16, Vidisha 13, Ratlam 12, Mandsaur 08, Shajapur 06, four each in Sheopur and Chhindwara, three in Alirajpur, two in Shivpuri and one in Betul, the bulletin said.

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

Three patient hails from other states.

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

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

The officials said 461 containment areas have been established across the coronavirus-affected cities to curtail the spread of the deadly infection.

The updated Madhya Pradesh tally: Positive cases 1,687; deaths 83; discharged 203; active 1,401; people tested 33,074.