Bengal on Saturday logged 2,913 Covid-19 recoveries, 2,710 new infections and 44 deaths, and appeared nearing its goal of having fewer than 23,000 active cases by the end of 2020.

The state’s total active cases numbered 37,190 on Dashami on October 26, but have now fallen to 23,034, back almost to where it was on September 7, 96 days ago. The total active cases dipped for the 47th successive day since Vijaya Dashami.

On Saturday, the also state reported less than 3,000 new cases for the sixth consecutive day.

“Till a few days ago, as the rate of drop in total active cases slowed down, it appeared that we would not be able to achieve our target of ending the year with less than 23,000. But as of today, we are just 35 cases away from sub-23,000,” said a minister.

The first Covid-19 death was reported on March 23. The state took 264 days to cross the toll of 9,000.

Bengal’s mortality rate is now 1.73, compared to the 1.45 per cent nationally. However, since Dashami, the mortality rate has improved from 1.85.

Prior to this, Bengal logged 500 deaths on June 17, 1,000 on July 15, 2,000 on August 8, 3,000 on August 27, 4,000 on September 14, 5,000 on October 1, 6,000 on October 18, 7,000 on November 3, and 8,000 on November 22. “The latest 1,000 deaths took 20 days, slower and hence, better than the 16-19 days it took in the earlier per-1,000 deaths, the minister pointed out.

“We are on track to achieve our other goal, of ending the year with a recovery rate of over 95,” the minister added.

The state’s recovery rate has been rising for 51 consecutive days to touch a new high of 93.83 per cent. The national rate now is 94.9 per cent.

In the 47 days since the end of Puja, the state recorded over 1.77 lakh recoveries, outweighing the 1.65 lakh cases.

The state now has over 5.19 lakh Covid-19 cases, including 4.87 lakh recoveries and 9,010 deaths. Of Saturday’s 44 deaths, 16 were from the city.

Of the total deaths, 7,553, or 83.8 per cent, were attributed to comorbidities by the state government.

With 42,107 tests on Saturday, the state’s total test count went past 63.82 lakh, at 70,914 tests per million people.

The positive confirmation rate – the percentage of infections found in relation to the number of tests conducted -- is 8.14 now, having improved fairly steadily from the 8.27 of November 20.

Bengal reported 22.22 per cent occupancy in the 13,588 beds earmarked for Covid-19 in the 102 dedicated hospitals for the pandemic, besides over 5.25 lakh telemedicine consultations so far this pandemic.