Bengal could finally lower its mortality rate in the Covid-19 pandemic to less than 2 per cent on Friday as the state reported 56 deaths and 3,286 recoveries.

The mortality rate came down to 1.99 per cent on a day when the toll from the novel coronavirus reached 3,073.

The state logged its first Covid-19 case on March 17 and the first death from the pathogen on March 23.

On Friday, the state reported 3,286 recoveries and 2,982 new cases, resulting in a fall in the total number of active patients for the fifth consecutive day. On Sunday, the state’s total active cases were 28,069. The figure was 26,349 on Friday.

Bengal now has 1.53 lakh cases, including over 1.24 lakh recoveries and the 3,073 deaths. The recovery rate continued to climb, at 80.86 now, far ahead of the national rate of 76.42 per cent.

“There are many positives, but let’s keep the rest aside today. It is a momentous occasion for us, now that we finally have our mortality rate at below 2,” said a Bengal minister. The state’s mortality rate was 2.25 till July 31, 3.59 till June 30, 5.76 till May 31, and 12.86 per cent on April 30.

The national mortality rate in the pandemic now is 1.81, with Gujarat and Maharashrta at the top of the pile, with 3.2 each. The others in the top five are Punjab and Delhi, with 2.6 each, and Madhya Pradesh, with 2.2.

“We are in the sixth position in the country and our aim is to drop out of the top 10 states on this list. Our next goal is to take the rate to below 1 per cent,” said the minister.

Of the 3,073 deaths, 2,674 (87 per cent) were classified as comorbid by the state government.

The state reported 42,121 tests on Friday, taking the total to over 17.58 lakh, at 19,541 per million people. With the surge in testing – along with relatively less new cases found – over the past few days, the positive confirmation rate improved from 8.9 on August 22 to 8.74 on Friday.

On Friday, 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 719 in their total of active cases, logging more recoveries than new cases fairly consistently since August 9.

“Calcutta, which is the most high-incidence district, has 7,041 active cases on August 9. Today, with 593 recoveries and 427 new cases, it has improved to 5,134,” said the minister.

Bengal reported 33.55 per cent occupancy on 12,045 Covid-19 beds at 87 hospitals, besides 15.29 on the 11,507 beds at 200 safe homes.

Telemedicine services have been provided to over 1.36 lakh, 4,361 of them in the past 24 hours.