Bengal on Friday logged 1,840 Covid-19 recoveries, 1,422 infections and 23 deaths.

The state reported a drop in total active cases for 12 consecutive days as the figure fell by 441 to reach 19,729. This is for the first time since June 8 that the number of patients under treatment went below 20,000.

The total of active cases had improved till June 9 by around 89 per cent to reach 14,702 from the all-time high of 1,32,181 on May 21. But over the 11 days till June 20, it had risen again by over 56 per cent, before improving by over 14 per cent in the past 12 days.

Bengal’s recovery rate rose to 97.51 per cent on Friday with the national rate at 96.97 now.

With Calcutta logging 137 infections and North 24-Parganas 158, Friday was the fifth successive day since the second wave struck when none of Bengal’s 23 districts reported over 200 new cases.

Fifteen Bengal districts logged double-digit figures of new infections, while Kalimpong, North Dinajpur, Malda and Murshidabad recorded single-digit figures.

Of the 23 deaths reported on Friday, five were from Calcutta and eight from North 24-Parganas. Fourteen Bengal districts reported zero deaths on Friday, while four others recorded just one each.

The state’s mortality rate is 1.18 now, while that of the nation is 1.31 per cent.

Bengal now has a total of nearly 15.03 lakh Covid-19 cases since the first was detected in March last year. They include over 14.65 lakh recoveries and 17,758 deaths.