Bengal on Monday logged 14,352 Covid-19 recoveries, 5,882 new infections and 103 deaths, reporting a drop by 8,568 in its total of active cases, to 26,886.

This is the first instance of fewer than 6,000 new infections being detected in a day since April 14, 54 days ago, around the time the second wave started peaking.

The total of active cases, at an all-time high of 1,32,181 on May 21, improved by nearly 80 per cent in these 17 days.

Bengal now has 2.02 per cent of the national total of active cases, and is eighth among states with most such cases.

The daily confirmation rate, which peaked in the second wave with nearly 33 per cent, fell to 9.79 per cent on Monday.

Bengal’s Covid-19 recovery rate rose for the 37th consecutive day, rising by nearly 12 percentage points over five weeks, to 96.98 per cent on Monday. The national rate now is 94.15.

The state now has a total of 14.32 lakh cases, since the first was reported on March 17 last year. The total includes 13.88 lakh recoveries and 16,362 deaths.

Bengal’s overall mortality rate is 1.14 per cent, the national rate is 1.21. Of the 103 deaths reported on Monday, 23 were from Calcutta and 32 from North 24-Parganas.

Calcutta logged 610 new infections, North 24-Parganas 1,181.

The total of active cases in these two districts, which was over 53,000 in the peak of the second wave, was 8,427 on Monday. “This is a big achievement, as a turnaround in Bengal is not possible without major improvement in these two districts,” said a minister.