Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh) [India], April 11 (ANI): In view of the rising COVID-19 cases in Jabalpur, a night curfew has been imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus infection. The administration is also looking at an option to allow phased movement of people during the night so that crowds can be avoided during the day hours.

Due to the lockdown imposed from Monday to Friday, from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm in several places in the state, there is a huge crowd in the markets and the night curfew adds to the crowd in the daytime. If a phased movement of people during the night is introduced, in place of night curfew, many tasks during the day can be shifted to night thus reducing the density of crowd during the daytime, it was felt.

Karamveer Sharma District Collector Jabalpur earlier said, "It is a new idea and before taking any decision we need to discuss it with people and stakeholders like with retail shop owners."Sharad Aggarwal, a merchant said, "Some serious and urgent measures should be taken to contain the coronavirus before the peak of a second wave is reached. Around 300 deaths were reported yesterday in Jabalpur. It is true that the crowd in the city will be reduced if works conducted during the day can be done at night. We have to think which all works can be shifted to night."According to Union Health Ministry, Madhya Pradesh reported 2,426 new COVID-19 cases and 23 deaths in the last 24 hours. There are currently 30,486 active cases in the state. As many as 2,92,598 recoveries and 4,136 deaths have been reported so far. (ANI)