Bengal on Friday reported a drop in its total active Covid-19 cases for the 32nd consecutive day since the end of Durga Puja, with over 1.31 lakh recoveries in this period outweighing the 1.2 lakh new infections detected.

Bengal had 24,617 active cases as of Friday 9am, compared to 37,190 on Vijaya Dashami on October 26.

On Friday, the state reported 3,496 recoveries, 3,489 new infections and 46 deaths, 16 from Calcutta.

“The gap between daily recoveries and new cases has been narrowing over seven days. There could be a break in this unprecedented 32-day fall in total active cases. But there has been enough of a turnaround already (from the rise in infections in the run-up to Durga Puja), given the stage of the pandemic,” said a minister.

Bengal’s total of Covid-19 cases is nearly 4.8 lakh now, including over 4.41 lakh recoveries and 8,270 deaths. Of the toll, the state government dubbed 6,916 or 83.6 per cent deaths as comorbid.

The state’s recovery rate has risen for 36 consecutive days, reaching 93.06 per cent on Friday, inching closer to the national rate of 93.65 per cent.

“Since October 22 (when the recovery rate started to rise), recovery rate has risen by nearly 6 per cent. We will soon exceed the national rate,” said the minister.

Bengal’s mortality rate is now 1.74 per cent, compared to the national rate of 1.45.

Calcutta High Court intervened to prevent a worsening of the pandemic over Durga Puja from crowding, and Covid data from Puja showed this was effective. The high court issued similar instructions for Kali Puja, Diwali and Chhath, and figures over the past few days suggest that the judicial intervention was, once again, helpful.

With 45,127 tests on Friday, the state’s total test count went past 57.44 lakh, at 63,826 tests per million people. Bengal’s positive confirmation rate is 8.25 per cent now.