Bengal on Wednesday logged six Covid-19 deaths, including two from Calcutta, the lowest daily toll for the state in this pandemic in 237 days since the six deaths reported on May 28 last year.

The state also reported 509 recoveries and 409 new infections on Wednesday, which resulted in a drop in total active cases for the 86th consecutive day since Vijaya Dashami last year. Active cases, from the Dashami high of 37,190, are now 6,675 on Wednesday.

Rising for 89 consecutive days from 87.44 on October 22 last year, Bengal’s recovery rate touched 97.04 per cent. The national rate is 96.7 now.

“The real highlight of the day, however, is how we have managed to improve our daily death count. Even in December, we were getting around 50-60 deaths daily, with 20-odd from Calcutta alone. Look at where we are now,” said a Bengal minister.

However, Bengal’s mortality rate is 1.77 compared to the 1.44 per cent nationally. “Our next key goal is a major improvement in the mortality rate,” said the minister.

The state attributed 8,457 deaths or 83.9 per cent of the total Covid toll of 10,080 to co-morbidities.

The state’s positive confirmation rate is 7.33 per cent now, having improved steadily from the 8.27, 61 days ago.

“The much better positive confirmation rate is a clear indicator of a decisive reduction in the spread of the outbreak,” said the minister.

Bengal’s total test count – including 27,104 tests on Wednesday – is over 77.23 lakh now, at 85,815 tests per million people.