COVID-19 cases in India nears 50,000, death toll at 1,694

New Delhi, May 06: The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 1,694 and the total number of cases climbed to 49,391 in the country on Wednesday, registering 126 deaths in last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry said.

As many as 2,958 cases have been registered in past 24 hours and 1,456 patients have been cured or discharged.

Maharashtra and Gujarat continued to register maximum fresh cases on Wednesday, with the former registering 15,525 positive cases following 617 deaths.

Meanwhile, the Central government is likely to operate 64 flights from May 7 to 13 to bring home around 14,800 Indian nationals stranded abroad because of the coronavirus lockdown.

These special flights would be operated by Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express to repatriate Indians from 12 countries -- the UAE, the UK, the US, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman, said the officials.