Bengal on Tuesday reported the second consecutive day of a drop in total active Covid-19 cases which fell by 232 to 22,508.

On Tuesday, the state reported 2,037 recoveries, 1,852 infections and 47 deaths.

The daily positive confirmation rate, which had peaked in the second wave with nearly 33 per cent, fell to 3.61 on Tuesday.

“We have to get the total of active cases below 10,000 again. The number of new infections found daily also has to fall to below 1,000,” said a minister.

“We are hoping these two days are not an aberration, but the beginning of a lasting trend that finally gets us to the other side of the second wave’s fallout,” he added.

The total of active cases had improved till June 9 by around 89 per cent to 14,702, from the all-time high of 1,32,181 on May 21. But over 11 days till Sunday, it had risen again by over 56 per cent, before starting to fall again over these two days.

Bengal currently has 3.52 per cent of the national total of active cases and remains eighth on the list of states with most active cases.

Of the 47 deaths reported on Tuesday, 11 were in Calcutta and 15 in North 24-Parganas, the two worst-affected districts. Calcutta logged 172 infections and North 24-Parganas 207.

The state’s recovery rate rose to 97.31 per cent. The national recovery rate is 96.53 now. Bengal’s overall mortality rate, with 17,437 deaths in total, is 1.17 per cent, while the national rate is 1.3.