Bengal on Tuesday recorded a 24-hour high in Covid-19 tests at 43,738 as the state went past 19 lakh total tests and 21,000 tests per million people.
In one month, the state logged over 10 lakh tests. Bengal, which had 9.13 lakh tests on August 1, reported more than 19.31 lakh tests on September 1.
For the ninth consecutive day, Bengal on Tuesday reported a fall in the total number of active patients with more recoveries than new cases being reported in 24 hours. The total active cases on August 23 were 28,069 and on Tuesday, the figure was 24,822.
Bengal also recorded a new 24-hour high in recoveries at 3,346 as 1.37 lakh out of the total 1.65 lakh patients were cured of the disease. The recovery rate surged further to 83.04, far ahead of the national rate of 76.96 per cent.
In the 24-hour period ending at 9am on Tuesday, the state reported 2,943 new cases.
Yet again, the five most high-incidence districts of Bengal — Calcutta, North 24-Parganas, South 24-Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly — collectively recorded a fall of 205 in the total number of active cases.
Since the 7,041 active cases of August 9, Calcutta improved to 4,690 on Tuesday.
Of the 55 deaths reported on Tuesday, 11 were from the city.
Bengal began testing in early February and took over three-and-a-half months to complete 1 lakh tests on May 19. On Tuesday, 105 days later, the number of tests crossed 19 lakh. The latest lakh was achieved in three days.
“We covered 13-16 lakh in three days each. Then, we covered 17 and 18 lakh in just two days each. Getting past 19 lakh took us three days, yes, but 20 lakh will again take only two days,” said a Bengal minister.
In the past seven days, Bengal conducted over 2.97 lakh tests.
“We are also looking to cross the 50,000 mark in daily testing in a matter of days,” he added.
The positive confirmation rate improved from 8.9 to 8.58 with the surge in testing and the relatively less new cases found over the past nine days.
Of the 3,283 deaths in total, 2,847 (86.7 per cent) were reported as comorbid by the government. The overall mortality rate stayed at 1.98, while the national rate is 1.76 per cent.
Bengal reported 33.08 per cent occupancy on 12,045 Covid-19 beds at 87 hospitals, besides 15.29 on 11,507 beds at 200 safe homes.
Telemedicine services have been provided to nearly 1.54 lakh people, of whom 4,279 availed themselves of the facility in the past 24 hours.