BHOPAL: In view of the rising cases of COVID-19 in Madhya Pradesh, the state government has banned visitors from meeting prison inmates till the end of March this year in an attempt to prevent the spread of infection.
An order to this effect was an issued by the state jail department on Friday.
"In a bid to prevent the spread of the pandemic inside the prisons, the visits of friends, family members and acquaintances of jail inmates will remain banned till March 31. The jail inmates will continue to avail the facility of e-meeting (through video calls) and incoming phone calls," the order read.
From November 1 last year, visitors were allowed to meet the inmates of jails in the state after a decline in coronavirus cases.
In March 2021, after the announcement of the coronavirus-induced lockdown, the jail department had banned prison visits till October end last year.
Considering a spike in the infection cases again, the Madhya Pradesh government has already announced that all schools and hostels for Classes 1 to 12 in the state will remain shut till January 31.
Besides the closure of schools, the state government has also banned all religious and commercial fairs and rallies, additional chief secretary (Home) Dr Rajesh Rajora had said on Friday.
Only 250 people are now allowed to attend political, cultural, religious, social, educational, entertainment and other such events, he said.
Programmes can be held with only up to 50 per cent of the seating capacity in closed spaces.
Also, sports events can be organised with 50 per cent of the capacity of stadiums, the official said.
The COVID-19 tally in Madhya Pradesh rose to 8,19,228 on Friday with detection of 4,755 case during the day, while the death toll stood at 10,543, a health department said.