Bengal on Wednesday recorded a new 24-hour high of 44,120 Covid-19 tests and a drop in active cases for the 10th consecutive day from 28,069 on August 23 to 24,445.

The state reported 2,976 new cases in 24 hours till Wednesday 9am, fewer than the 3,297 recoveries in the same time. However, 56 deaths were reported on Wednesday, of which 17 are from Calcutta, taking the total toll to 3,339.

Of the 1.68 lakh Covid-19 cases reported in Bengal since the first detected on March 17, nearly 1.41 lakh are recoveries. The state’s recovery rate is 83.53 now, far ahead of the national rate of 77.08 per cent.

“Bengal is now fourth among states (after Delhi, Bihar and Tamil Nadu) in terms of recovery rate. With an active ratio (total active cases among total cases) of 14.49 per cent now, Bengal is third from bottom, with only Bihar and Delhi doing better,” said a minister.

The state’s tests per million count is now 21,950, which was 10,384 a month ago.

“The World Health Organisation’s advisory specifies a daily minimum of 140 tests per million. A month ago, Bengal was at 234. On Wednesday, it reported 490. Getting past 500 requires reaching 45,000 in daily testing, which will take a day or two,” the minister said.

With more tests, and relatively fewer new cases in the past 10 days, positive confirmation rate improved from 8.9 to 8.54 per cent.

Five most high-incidence districts Calcutta, North and South 24-Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly continued recording a collective fall in their total active cases — by 184 on Wednesday.

Of 3,339 deaths, 2,892 (86.6 per cent) were reported comorbid. The state’s mortality rate improved to 1.97 per cent, while the national rate is 1.75.

“We are trying to catch up with the national rate and expect to do so by mid-September,” said the minister.

Bengal reported 32.75 per cent occupancy of 12,045 Covid-19 beds in 87 hospitals. Telemedicine services have been provided to nearly 1.58 lakh, 4,236 of them in the past 24 hours.