As of April 17, Madhya Pradesh has 1,120 confirmed cases of COVID-19 - the fifth-highest among all states in India. The Government of Madhya Pradesh issued one of its initial COVID-19 related orders around January 28, 2020, advising healthcare workers to use appropriate protective gear when examining patients from Wuhan, China. Since then, the government has taken several actions to contain the spread and impact of COVID-19. In this blog, we look at key measures taken so far.
Figure 1: Day-wise COVID-19 cases in Madhya Pradesh
Early stages: Focus on screening international travellers
On January 28, the state government issued directions to monitor international travellers from specified countries, test and maintain surveillance on those who are symptomatic. A further order required district administrators to monitor and report on all passengers who arrived from China between December 31, 2019 and January 29, 2020. While efforts were largely focused on screening and testing, the first quarantine restrictions for symptomatic travellers from China, entering India after January 15, were imposed on January 31. Those leaving quarantine were subsequently kept under surveillance and their health conditions reported on for a period of 14 days. By February 13, a constant presence of a medical team at the airport was required to test foreign passengers from an increasing list of countries and send daily reports.
February and early March: Improving public health capacity, restricting social gatherings
The next steps from the government were aimed towards adapting the public health infrastructure to handle the evolving situation. Following are some of the steps taken in this regard:
As the number of cases in India increased through March, the MP government turned focus and issued orders directly concerning their citizens. Several measures were undertaken to spread awareness about COVID-19 and implement social distancing.
March 21 Onwards
On March 21, MP reported four cases of COVID-19. On March 23, the government released the Madhya Pradesh Epidemic Diseases, COVID-19 Regulations 2020 to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the state. These regulations specify special administrative powers and protocol for hospitals (government and private) to follow while treating COVID-19 patients. These regulations are valid for one year. Over and above general instructions to maintain social distancing and personal hygiene, the government has undertaken specific measures to: (i) increase healthcare capacity, (ii) institute welfare protection for the economically vulnerable population, (iii) strengthen the administrative structure and data collection, and (iv) ensure supply of essential goods and services. These measures include-
Healthcare measures
Welfare measures
Administrative measures
Supply of essential goods and services
For more information on the spread of COVID-19 and the central and state government response to the pandemic, please see here.
Over the next few weeks, Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in five States – Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa. As parties prepare for the upcoming elections, we take a look at the electoral trends in these states over the past 25 years. We see that electoral fortunes in some states have fluctuated widely. The electoral mandate in UP has varied over the last 25 years. Five different parties -- Congress, Janata Dal, BJP, SP and BSP have been the single largest party in the Assembly at some point in time. In Punjab, the Akalis and the Congress have alternately controlled the government. In Uttarakhand, the 2007 elections saw the BJP take over control from the Congress. In Manipur and Goa, Congress has been dominant player in elections. In both states, it emerged as the single largest party in all but one election since 1984. In Manipur, the Congress lost this status to the Manipur State Congress Party (MSCP), a splinter group of the Congress in 2000. In Goa, it lost this status to BJP in 2002. The results of Uttar Pradesh elections will have the highest impact on national politics. The state has 80 out of 543 elected seats in Lok Sabha and 31 out of 231 elected seats in Rajya Sabha. The results could give an indication of the prospects for these parties in the next general elections, and may also change the composition of Rajya Sabha over the next few years. Given that there are five parties (BSP, SP, BJP, Congress and RLD) with a significant base in the state, the possibilities of post poll arrangements are also wide open. For more details, see our Vital Stats.