The death toll due to Covid-19 rose to 2,872 and the number of total positive cases climbed to 90,927 Sunday morning, registering an increase of 120 fatalities and a record jump of 4,987 new cases in 24 hours, since 8 AM Saturday, according to the Union health ministry.

The number of active Covid-19 cases stands at 53,946, while 34,108 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said.

'Thus, around 37.51 per cent patients have recovered so far,' a senior health ministry official said.

Three states have reported over 10,000 cases so far with Maharashtra being the worst hit at 30,706 infections, followed by Gujarat (10,988) and Tamil Nadu 10,585.

The total confirmed cases include foreign nationals too who were tested in India.

Of the 120 new deaths reported since Saturday morning, 67 were in Maharashtra, 19 in Gujarat, nine in Uttar Pradesh, seven in West Bengal, six in Delhi, four in Madhya Pradesh, three in Tamil Nadu and two in Haryana and one each from Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan.

Of the total 2,872 fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 1,135 fatalities, Gujarat comes second with 625 deaths, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 243, West Bengal at 232, Delhi at 129, Rajasthan at 126, Uttar Pradesh at 104,Tamil Nadu at 74 and Andhra Pradesh at 49.

The death toll reached 36 in Karnataka, 34 Telangana and 32 in Punjab.

Haryana has reported 13 fatalities due to the disease, Jammu and Kashmir has 12 deaths while Bihar has registered seven and Kerala has reported four deaths.

Jharkhand, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Odisha have recorded three Covid-19 fatalities each, while Assam has reported two deaths.

Meghalaya, Uttarakhand and Puducherry have reported one fatality each, according to the ministry data.

The ministry's website says more than 70 per cent of the deaths are due to comorbidities.

According to the health ministry data updated in the morning, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 30,706, followed by Gujarat at 10,988, Tamil Nadu at 10,585, Delhi at 9,333, Rajasthan at 4,960, Madhya Pradesh at 4,789 and Uttar Pradesh at 4,258.

The number of Covid-19 cases has gone up to 2,576 in West Bengal, 2,355 in Andhra Pradesh and 1,946 in Punjab.

It has risen to 1,509 in Telangana, 1,179 in Bihar, 1,121 in Jammu and Kashmir, 1,092 in Karnataka and 887 in Haryana.

Odisha has reported 737 coronavirus infection cases so far, while Kerala has 587 cases. A total of 217 people have been infected with the virus in Jharkhand and 191 in Chandigarh.

Tripura has reported 167 cases, Assam has 92 cases, Uttarakhand has 88, Himachal Pradesh has 78 cases, Chhattisgarh has 67 and Ladakh has registered 43 cases, so far.

Thirty-three Covid-19 cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Goa have reported 17 Covid-19 cases, while Meghalaya and Puducherry have registered 13 cases each.

Manipur has seven cases. Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Dadar and Nagar Haveli have reported a case each till how.

'Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research),' the ministry said on its website.

The state-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it said.

Over 300 nurses in Calcutta quit

The healthcare sector in Bengal is staring at a major crisis as over 300 nurses have quit their jobs at private hospitals in Calcutta and left for their homes in Manipur and other parts of the country amid spurt in Covid-19 cases.

The Association of Hospitals of Eastern India (AHEI), a non-statutory body with 17 private medical facilities in Calcutta as members, has written to Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha seeking his intervention in resolving the crisis.

At least 185 nurses left for Manipur earlier this week. On Saturday, 169 followed suit -- 92 hailing from Manipur, 43 from Tripura, 32 from Odisha and two from Jharkhand, sources at the city's private hospitals said.

Taking to Facebook, however, Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh rubbished the claim and said, 'No such advisory has been issued by the state. We are not asking anybody to return. We feel proud of them as they serve the patients in Calcutta, Delhi and Chennai.'

Aaditya opposes Raut on use of stadiums as virus facilities

Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday supported the Mumbai civic body's move to take over some premises of the Wankhede stadium for converting it into a Covid-19 quarantine facility, and suggested making a similar facility at the Brabourne stadium.

However, Maharashtra Cabinet minister and Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray opposed Raut's suggestion, saying grounds of stadiums have mud base and they won't be usable during monsoons.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday directed the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) to hand over some premises of the Wankhede Stadium in south Mumbai to the civic body to create facilities in connection with the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Aditya tweeted: 'Sanjay ji, we cant take the grounds of the stadiums or playgrounds because they have a mud base and they wont be usable during monsoons. An open space with a solid/ concrete base is usable and its being done already.'

'Had it not been for our monsoons, it is very usable,' he added.

Food delivery personnel take rest under the shade of a tree as they await their next order during lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus in Kochi, Sunday, May 17, 2020. AP

Mumbai police additional commissioner quarantined

A Mumbai police additional commissioner was quarantined as a precautionary measure after his reader tested positive for the novel coronavirus, an official said on Sunday.

The reader, an inspector rank officer, was detected with the virus on Tuesday after which he was admitted in Kolekalyan police hospital in Santa Cruz East.

'After the reader tested positive, four persons, including the additional commissioner and an inspector, have been quarantined for 14 days as a precautionary measure' the official said.

The personnel who tested positive told PTI he was asymptomatic but was asked to undergo the test by his superior.

'I was shocked when the report returned positive,' he said.

Assam releases over 3,550 inmates to decongest jails

Over 3,550 inmates, including 300 lodged in detention camps, have been released from jails across Assam since March to decongest the prisons in the wake of novel Coronavirus pandemic, a senior official said on Sunday.

Of them, around 1,700 prisoners were released following a Supreme Court ruling in the wake of the outbreak of COVID-19, while others got out of jails as per normal legal procedure, Assam Inspector General of Prisons Dasarath Das said.

He said the state's 31 jails currently house 8,510 inmates against the sanctioned capacity of 8,938.

'We have released a total of 3,577 inmates so far from different jails across the state since the coronavirus crisis emerged in March. This includes 3,161 undertrials, who were released on bail and personal bonds,' he told PTI.

Das said 101 convicts have been allowed to go home on annual leave, while 15 more were released on parole.

Eligible convicts get 30 days of annual leaves for emergency purposes as per rules.

'We have also released 300 people from detention camps after the Supreme Court order. At present, there are 479 inmates in six detention camps,' the IG said.

7,200 inmates released from Odisha jails

The Odisha government has released over 7,200 under-trial prisoners and convicts on bail and parole from prisons to decongest the jails in view of the coronavirus pandemic, a senior official said on Sunday.

At least 1,160 jail inmates have also been relocated to less congested prisons as part of precautionary measures to contain the spread of COVID-19, the official said.

'As many as 7,255 prisoners, including 389 convicts, have been released as a temporary measure to decongest the jails by following a thorough judicial process since the third week of March,' he said.

While the convicts have been released through parole, the 6,866 undertrial prisoners were set free through bail allowed by the courts.

Punjab govt to run buses for migrants

The Punjab government will run buses for migrant labourers wanting to go home in Uttar Pradesh, an official said on Sunday.

The buses will be run free of cost daily from Jalandhar and take migrant workers to 10 UP districts, Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma said in a release here.

The UP districts to which the buses will ply are Gautam Buddh Nagar, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Bulandshahr, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Saharanpur, Mathura and Hapur.

Additional Municipal Commissioner Babita Kler and Assistant Commissioner Randeep Singh Gill will tie up with district magistrates of the 10 districts and get details about the place where the buses are to be sent, he said.

The Jalandhar DC said the Secretary, Regional Transport Authority, will ensure the availability of buses and decide a tentative schedule for their departure.

The Deputy Commissioner said the civil surgeon will depute teams for medical screening of the migrants.

Over 66,000 J&K residents evacuated from different parts of country: Admin

More than 66,000 people from Jammu and Kashmir, who were stranded in different parts of the country due to the ongoing nationwide lockdown, have been evacuated, an official spokesperson said on Sunday.

While 54,866 locals returned to the union territory through Lakhanpur the gateway to Jammu and Kashmir bordering Punjab, 11,456 stranded passengers arrived on COVID-19 special trains at Jammu and Udhampur railway stations, the official said.

He said another 2,470 stranded passengers reached via Lakhanpur on Sunday afternoon, while Jammu district administration received the fourth train carrying 898 passengers belonging to the UT.

So far, four trains have reached Jammu with a total of 3,768 stranded passengers belonging to different districts.

He said the eighth special train has reached Udhampur railway station carrying 1,315 people, taking the number of those who have reached Udhampur during the last week to more than 9,000.

Delhi metro to remain shut till May 31

Metro services will remain closed for commuters till May 31, in view of the lockdown extension, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said on Sunday.

The ongoing countrywide lockdown has been extended till May 31, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) announced on Sunday.

In an order, the NDMA said lockdown measures need to be implemented for a further period of 14 days in the country to contain the spread of COVID-19.

'In light of the extension of lockdown issued by the government, metro services will remain closed for commuters till 31st May. Our helpline services 155370 shall also not be available. You may reach us at helpline@dmrc.org,' the DMRC said in a tweet.

UP's 6.5 lakh migrant workers reached state: Official

The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday said a total of 16.50 lakh migrant workers have already returned to the state.

'So far 16.50 lakh migrant labourers have returned to the state through trains, buses and other transports. Till Sunday morning, 6.65 lakh migrant workers arrived by 522 Shramik Special trains,' said Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Information) Awanish Awasthi.

Awasthi also said trains arrived in UP from Delhi for the first time on Saturday. Now, 11 trains will depart from Delhi on a daily basis to various districts of the state, he added.

'Till Saturday, the railway has been paid Rs 6 crore. By Monday, an additional Rs 30 crore will be paid to the Indian Railways,' Awasthi said.

UP fire and emergency services employee sprays disinfectant in the Narahi area of Hazratganj, as a measure to contain the spread of coronavirus, during the nationwide lockdown, in Lucknow, Friday, May 15, 2020 PTIi