Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday said that night curfew might be imposed in the cities of Bhopal and Indore from March 14 or March 15, PTI reported.

“Look at the rise in infection cases...Tough measures will be taken to flatten the curve,” Chouhan said. “Night curfew might be clamped in Bhopal and Indore from Sunday or Monday.”

The chief minister announced the likely measure after a meeting with officials on the pandemic situation and vaccination in the state.

In the meeting, it was also decided that convention halls in Bhopal and Indore will be allowed to function at half their capacity, while all social and religious functions will be prohibited, News18 reported. Chouhan has also instructed the home ministry to prepare fresh Standard Operating Procedures in the wake of surge in cases.

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Chouhan said that people coming to the state by air, trains or roads from neighbouring Mahasrashtra should be thermally scanned, PTI reported. Screening and traffic control in border cities of Khandwa, Chhindwara, Burhanpur, Barwani, Khandwa, Dhar and Seoni will be heightened, according to News18. Maharashtra has been witnessing a sharp spike in coronavirus cases over the last month or so, logging the most number of infections among all states.

On Friday, Madhya Pradesh reported 603 cases of Covid-19, taking the tally up to 2,67,176, PTI reported. The toll went up to 3,883, with two more deaths.

“Indore’s caseload rose by 219 to touch 61,642, while Bhopal’s increased by 138 to reach 45,079,” a state official said, according to Mint. The active cases in the two cities stood at 1,528 and 806, respectively.

Meanwhile, India on Friday registered 24,882 new coronavirus cases, taking the overall count to 1,13,33,728, data from the Union health ministry showed. The number of new cases marked the highest single-day rise in nearly three months