Bengal’s total of active Covid-19 cases fell below 1 lakh for the first time since crossing it on April 27, as the state on Sunday reported a drop by 7,500 in that total, which is now 94,898.

The state logged 18,642 recoveries, 11,284 new infections and 142 deaths in the 24-hour window.

Bengal now has 4.64 per cent of India’s active cases and dropped to seventh among states with most active cases.

“Having less than 1 lakh active cases to deal with, once again, is a huge landmark, at least psychologically, given the monstrous proportions of the second wave in India. We have managed to drag it back from the all-time high of 1,32,181 of May 21, just nine days ago,” said a minister.

“What’s heartening to note is the fact that the number of new infections detected daily has been steadily on the decline, despite no major drop in the number of tests,” he added, referring to the daily positive confirmation rate that fell to 16.04 per cent on Sunday, less than half of the second wave peak of around 33.

Deemed a key indicator this pandemic, the positive confirmation rate is the percentage of positive cases out of samples tested. A decreasing positive confirmation rate is indicative of reducing levels of Covid-19 spread.

In another significantly positive indicator, the recovery rate rose for the 29th consecutive day, to 91.93 per cent, rising by around five percentage points in a couple of weeks. The national rate now is 91.5.

With a total of 15,410 deaths this pandemic, Bengal’s overall mortality rate is 1.12 per cent, while the national rate is 1.17 now. Of the 142 deaths reported on Sunday, 33 were reported from Calcutta and 49 from North 24-Parganas, the two worst-hit districts.

Calcutta logged 1,830 new infections, North 24-Parganas 2,482.

“Even the Calcutta-North 24-Parganas picture has started improving. Nine days ago, they had between them nearly 53,000 total active cases (around 40 per cent of Bengal’s total). Today, they collectively have around 32,000 (around 34 per cent),” said the minister.