Bhopal, Feb 13 (PTI) The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to allow people to meet their relatives lodged in prisons in the wake of a decline in COVID-19 cases in the state, an official said on Sunday.

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Earlier, the state government had on January 15 banned visitors from meeting prison inmates till March 31 this year in an attempt to prevent the spread of the viral infection.

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On Saturday, MP recorded 2,438 new cases of coronavirus and seven fatalities, taking the infection tally to 10,23,799 and death toll to 10,689, as per official figures.

In an order issued on Saturday, the Madhya Pradesh jail department decided to allow people from outside to meet prison inmates with immediate effect, the official said.

The order also said COVID-19-appropriate behaviour should be followed during such meetings.

In March 2021, after the announcement of the coronavirus-induced lockdown, the jail department had banned prison visits till October end last year.

From November 1 2021, visitors were allowed to meet jail inmates following a decline in coronavirus cases at that time.

The MP government has now also ordered the opening of schools and hostels for Classes 1 to 12 across the state with full capacity with immediate effect while adhering to the COVID-19 norms of wearing masks and following social distancing, an official said on Saturday.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)