Bengal on Thursday reported the highest number of new Covid-19 infections detected in a day this year, at 1,274, taking the total number of active cases above 6,000 for the first time since January 26.

The number of active Covid-19 cases rose by 738 on Thursday to 6,513. This was the 21st consecutive day of rise in the total of active Covid-19 cases.

The state reported 534 Covid recoveries. Two Covid patients died, one of them in the city.

A 136-day stint of fall in the number of active cases in Bengal, since Vijaya Dashami last year, snapped on March 11.

Before the rise since March 12, the active case count had fallen from 37,190 on October 26 to 3,110.

In Calcutta and North 24-Parganas, the two districts on the Centre’s radar for the second wave of the pandemic, 399 and 344 new infections, respectively, were detected.

The recovery rate is 97.14 per cent. The figure has fallen over the past three weeks but is still ahead of the national rate, which is 93.67.