Bengal on Friday reported the 19th straight day of a drop in its total number of active Covid-19 cases, by 453 to 16,690 now.

On Friday, the state reported 1,424 recoveries, 990 new infections and 19 deaths.

With worst-hit districts Calcutta and North 24-Parganas logging 73 and 94 new infections, Friday was the second day since the second wave when none of Bengal’s 23 districts reported three-digit figures of new infections.

Twenty-one districts reported double-digit figures while Malda and Purulia reported single-digit figures.

Bengal’s daily positive confirmation rate, which was nearly 33 per cent at the peak of the second wave, had come down to 1.93 per cent on Friday, indicating shrinking Covid-19 spread.

Bengal’s recovery rate rose to 97.78 per cent, while the national rate is 97.17 now.

The state’s mortality rate remained 1.18 per cent, while that of the nation is 1.32.

Of the 19 deaths reported on Friday, two were from Calcutta city and four from North 24-Parganas.

Fourteen Bengal districts reported zero deaths while three others reported just one each.

The total number of active cases in the state had declined till June 9 by around 89 per cent to 14,702, from the all-time high of 1,32,181 on May 21.

But for 11 days till June 20, it had risen again by over 56 per cent, before falling by nearly 32 per cent again over these 19 days.

Bengal now has a total of over 15.1 lakh Covid-19 cases, since the first infection was detected in March last year. The figure includes 14.76 lakh recoveries and 17,886 deaths.