With 49 more people testingcoronavirus positive, nine of them in Ujjain, the number of infected persons in Madhya Pradesh climbed to 2,837 on Sunday, health officials said.As the virus claimed five more lives in the state since Saturday night, the tally of victims went up to 156, they said.Three of the fatalities were reported in Ujjain and two in Indore, the officials said.Of the total number of deaths reported in the state so far, Indore, which is one of the COVID-19 hotspots in the country, accounts for 76. Indore has 1,568 confirmed cases, with 23 new cases reported since previous night.Nine patients were detected in Ujjain since Saturday night, followed by six in Bhopal, four in Dhar, three in Jabalpur and one each in Hoshangabad, Panna, Niwari and Mandsaur, the officials said.Besides, two new districts Panna and Niwari added in the list where one each COVID-19 positive case was found on Sunday.So, the number of affected districts has gone up to 34 in Madhya Pradesh.The district-wise number of cases are as follows: Bhopal 532, Ujjain 156, Jabalpur 96, Khargone 77, Raisen 57, Dhar 55, Khandwa 47, Hoshangabad 36, Mandsaur 36, Barwani 26, Dewas 26, Burhanpur 18, Ratlam 16, Morena 16, Vidisha 13, Agar Malwa 12, Shajapur 7, five each in Sagar, Gwalior and Chhindwara, four in Sheopur, three each in Alirajpur, Harda and Shahdol, two each in Shivpuri, Tikamgarh, Anuppur and Rewa and one each in Betul, Dindori, Panna, Niwari and Ashok Nagar.Two patients undergoing treatment in the state are from other states.So far 76 deaths have been recorded in Indore, 30 in Ujjain, 15 in Bhopal, seven each in Khargone and Dewas, six in Khandwa, three in Hoshangabad, three in Mandsaur, two Raisen and one each in Jabalpur, Dhar, Shajapur, Agar Malwa, Burhanpur, Chhindwara and Ashok Nagar.The condition of 1,883 patients is stable while that of 61 was serious. Total 798 patients have recovered.The total number of active cases in MP is 1,883.The virus figures from MP, thus, are as follows: Total cases 2,837, active cases 1,883, new cases 49, death toll 156, recovered 798, total number of tested people is 46,874.Meanwhile, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday said that there has been a continuous improvement in COVID-19 situation in the state."The pace of the infection is slowing down continuously and patients are recovering and returning home in in large numbers," he said.He said that 50 patients were found positive in the state on Sunday and 174 patients were discharged after recovery.As a result, the number of pandemic active cases has declined by 129 in the state.Chouhan made these statement while taking stock of the COVID-19 situation at the Mantralaya here.He informed that a proposal to run 31 trains to bring back the stranded labourers from other states has been sent to the Railway ministry."Our labourers will soon return to the state by trains," he added.