Bengal on Saturday reported the 13th consecutive day of dip in its total number of active Covid-19 cases, by 449 to reach 19,280.

On Saturday, the state also reported 1,819 recoveries, 1,391 new infections and 21 deaths.

“This is the lowest number of new infections found in a day since April 1, which was 93 days ago,” said a minister.

The total number of active cases had declined till June 9 by around 89 per cent to 14,702, from the peak of 1,32,181 on May 21. For 11 days till June 20, it rose again by over 56 per cent, before falling by over 16 per cent in these 13 days.

Bengal’s daily positive confirmation rate, nearly 33 per cent at the peak of the second wave, was 2.64 on Saturday. A decreasing positive confirmation rate indicates shrinking Covid-19 spread. “Our next goal is to get daily confirmation rate to less than 2 per cent, which shouldn’t take more than a few days,” said the minister.

Bengal’s recovery rate rose to 97.44 per cent, with the national rate at 97.07 now.

With Calcutta logging 128 new infections and North 24-Parganas 142, Saturday was also the sixth successive day since the second wave when not one of Bengal’s 23 districts reported over 200 new cases. Seventeen districts reported double-digit figures while Malda and Purulia reported single-digit figures.

Of the day’s 21 deaths, five were reported from Calcutta and six from North 24-Parganas. Fifteen Bengal districts reported zero deaths on Saturday and three others reported just one each. The state’s mortality rate is 1.18 now, while that of the nation is 1.31.

Bengal has over 15.04 lakh Covid-19 cases since March 2020, including 14.67 lakh recoveries and 17,779 deaths.