Bengal on Wednesday reported a drop in its total of active Covid-19 cases for the 65th consecutive day since Vijaya Dashami on October 26, from 37,190 to 12,381.

The state on Wednesday logged 1,557 Covid-19 recoveries, 1,178 new infections, and 28 deaths, including eight from Calcutta. The recovery rate is now 95.99, short of the national rate by just 0.01 per cent.

The state’s total novel coronavirus cases, since the first was recorded on March 17, went past the 5.5 lakh mark on Wednesday, 288 days later.

The latest 50,000, from 5 lakh on December 6, took 24 days, compared to the 15 days it took for the journey from 4.5 lakh (November 21) to 5 lakh.

“That itself shows the vast improvement. Slowing down from 15 days to 24 days is a major development. The 50,000 from 4 to 4.5 lakh took 14 days, from 3.5 to 4 lakh took 12 days, from 3 to 3.5 lakh took 13 days…. To go from that to 24 days is an achievement to take note of,” said a minister.

The state’s Covid-19 total of 5.5 lakh cases includes nearly 5.29 lakh recoveries and 9,683 deaths.

On Wednesday, the state administration announced several measures to enforce instructions from the high court to prevent crowding and ensure the outbreak did not worsen over the New Year celebrations. The judicial intervention came in the wake of alarming scenes of Christmas revelry in disregard of Covid-19 safety protocols.

Bengal’s positive confirmation rate is 7.79 per cent now, having improved steadily from the 8.27 of November 20.

The state’s total test count, including Wednesday’s 39,110, is now 70.7 lakh, at 78,558 tests per million people.

Of the total deaths, 8,115, or 83.8 per cent, have been attributed to comorbidities by the state government.

The state’s mortality rate is now 1.75, compared to the 1.44 per cent nationally.