Bengal on Wednesday logged less than 3,000 new Covid-19 infections for the third day in a row for the first time since August.
Wednesday saw 2,956 new infections, 3,009 recoveries and 47 deaths, including 17 from Calcutta.
The state also reported a drop in its total active cases for the 44th consecutive day since Vijaya Dashami on October 26. The total has fallen from 37,190 on October 26 to 23,650 on Wednesday, back almost to where it was 87 days ago, on September 13.
In the 44 days since the end of Puja, the state logged over 1.68 lakh recoveries and 1.57 lakh infections detected.
“Now the number of new infections is less even on days the testing is at a normal level. The positive confirmation rate has been dropping, in an indication of lower levels of Covid-19 spread,” said a minister. Bengal's positive confirmation rate is 8.17 per cent now, having improved from 8.27 on November 20.
With 44,351 tests on Wednesday, the state’s total test count went past 62.55 lakh, at 69,510 tests per million people.
The state’s recovery rate has been rising for 48 consecutive days, having risen to 93.64 from the 87.44 of October 22. The national rate now is 94.68 per cent.
“Starting next week, we are looking at another cycle of surge in recoveries, when these numbers would look even better,” said the minister.
However, the state’s mortality rate is 1.73, still behind the national rate of 1.45 per cent. Of the total death toll, 7,428 or 83.8 per cent of the deaths were attributed to comorbidities by the government.
The state now has nearly 5.11 lakh Covid-19 cases, including 4.78 lakh recoveries and 8,867 deaths.
Bengal reported 23.51 per cent occupancy in the 13,588 beds earmarked for Covid-19 in the 102 dedicated hospitals, besides over 5.18 lakh telemedicine consultations so far this pandemic.
Calcutta High Court had intervened to prevent a worsening of the pandemic over Durga Puja, Kali Puja, Diwali and Chhath. The numbers of infections from the festivals in October and November has shown that the court’s instructions were effective.
