New Delhi: As special trains continued to transport stranded migrants workers, students and others, India recorded 2,411 new cases in 24 hours, taking the total number of positive novel coronavirus cases in the country to 37,776. A total of 71 deaths were reported in the last one day from across the country, taking the total death toll to 1,223.
As per the Union Health Ministry, of the total cases, 26,535 are active, 10,017 people have recovered. The total count also includes 111 foreign nationals. Maharashtra continued to be the worst-hit state with 11,506 cases and 485 deaths.
Gujarat, the second most affected state, has 4,721 positive cases so far, followed by Delhi with 3,738 cases. The other states which have seen a sharp rise in cases are Madhya Pradesh (2,719), Rajasthan (2,666), Tamil Nadu (2,526) and Uttar Pradesh (2,455).
Meanwhile, a day after the Railways rolled out the first such passenger service during the national lockdown, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and other states braced for the return of their natives as more non-stop Shramik Special trains were flagged off on Saturday to ferry thousands of stranded migrant workers. The first train to Bihar carrying 1,187 stranded migrant workers reached Danapur railway station on the outskirts of Patna from Jaipur on Saturday afternoon after a 16-hour journey.
Most of the train services originated from Kerala, Maharashtra and Gujarat. In Chennai, workers, housed at various facilities in the city converged at three different locations, defying social distancing rules, leading to anxiety for a while. The police eventually pacified them and sent them back to their respective places of stay.
