Bengal on Saturday reported the 16th consecutive day of rise in the total number of active Covid-19 cases, by 377, to 4,608.

The number had been falling since Vijaya Dashami last year till March 11.

Prior to the rise since March 12, the total active cases had fallen from 37,190 on October 26, 2020, to 3,110.

The state on Saturday reported 433 Covid-19 recoveries, but 812 new infections — the highest since January 10 — were detected. There were two deaths, neither in the city.

Despite the recent surge, largely because other states have been doing far worse amid the national trend of a renewed rise, Bengal has 0.96 per cent of the national total of active cases and is 14th on the list of states with most active cases in the country.

“Around January 10 we had around seven per cent of the national total of active cases, and were third on the list of states with most active cases. So, there has been considerable improvement since then,” said a minister.

“The challenge now is to ensure that the damage, presumably from disregard of safety protocols in such a massive election campaign, does not quickly drag us back, undoing the exemplary turnaround since Durga Puja last year,” he added.

The recovery rate is 97.44 per cent, still considerably ahead of the national rate, which is 94.6 now.

The state’s positive confirmation rate is 6.43 per cent. On Saturday, the state reported 24,413 tests, taking the total past 90.86 lakh, at 1,00,961 tests per million people.

Of the total death toll of 10,322, 8,673 (84 per cent) were attributed to comorbidities.

Bengal’s mortality rate improved marginally to 1.76, while the national rate was 1.35 per cent.