Bengal on Friday logged less than 8,000 Covid-19 cases for the first time since April 17 with increasing hints that current restrictions to curb the disease’s spread were effective in achieving a turnaround from the peak of the deadly second wave.

The state recorded 16,557 recoveries, over twice the 7,913 infections, and 113 deaths on Friday.

Total active Covid cases, which were at an all-time high of 1,32,181 on May 21, are 53,023 now, having improved by 60 per cent in the intervening 14 days. Compared to the previous day, the number of active cases on Friday dropped by 8,757.

“There should be no doubt anymore about how necessary and effective the restrictions were,” said a Bengal minister.

“We are days away from getting to the goal of less than 5,000 infections being detected daily. After that would be the goal of less than 1,000 daily,” he added.

Bengal now has 2.85 per cent of the total active patients at the national level and is seventh on the list of states with most such cases. Till now, Bengal has recorded a total of around 14.11 lakh cases, which include 13.42 lakh recoveries and 16,034 deaths.

The recovery rate rose for the 34th consecutive day, riding the consistently large number of patients getting cured. The rate rose by nearly 11 percentage points to 95.11 per cent on Friday. The national rate now is 93.23.

The daily confirmation rate, which had peaked in the second wave with nearly 33 per cent, fell to 11.11 on Friday. A decreasing positive confirmation rate is indicative of reducing levels of Covid-19 spread.

Bengal’s overall mortality rate is 1.13 per cent, while the national rate is 1.19.

Of the 113 deaths reported on Friday, 23 were from Calcutta and 25 from North 24-Parganas, the two worst-affected districts. While Calcutta logged 899 infections, North 24-Parganas reported 1,686.

The total of active cases, of the two districts taken together, improved from over 53,000 to more than 17,000 on Friday.