Guwahati, May 8 (IANS): After a few days break, nine more coronavirus positive cases were reported in Assam during the past 48 hours taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 53, though only 18 of them are active, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday.

Five of the new cases are from Cachar district of southern Assam, bordering Tripura and Mizoram, while four people tested positive for in Guwahati.

Sarma said that all the five persons in Cachar took a bus from Rajasthan in which a large number of other people travelledtoo.

Briefing the media earlier on Thursday, the minister said that 43 people returned from Rajasthan's Ajmer Sharif without informing the state government and five of them tested positive on Wednesday and Thursday after arrival at Silchar.

He has also accused the district administration of Ajmer of not ensuring social distancing norms when it allowed 43 pilgrims of the state, including eight children, to travel in one small bus.

"To keep social distancing, buses are allowed to carry only 50 per cent of the total seating capacity. A khadim (servitor) at Ajmer Sharif Dargah arranged the bus," Sarma said.

Out of the state's total cases, 34 have recovered and one has died.