Bengal logged a drop in total active Covid-19 cases for the 25th consecutive day as number of patients fell from 37,190 on Vijaya Dashami on October 26 to 25,599 on Friday, lifting the recovery rate to a new high of 92.54 per cent.

The total of active cases on Friday is almost back where it was 55 days ago, on September 26.

The state reported 3,850 recoveries, 3,626 new infections and 50 deaths on Friday.

In the 25 days since the end of Durga Puja, Bengal recorded over 1.05 lakh recoveries, outweighing the 95,309 cases found.

“We now have a total of 4.49 lakh Covid-19 cases, since the first was recorded on March 17. But they include nearly 4.16 lakh recoveries, which is very good,” said a Bengal minister. The total also includes 7,923 deaths.

The state’s recovery rate, currently in an unbroken spell of rise for 29 consecutive days, since the 87.44 of October 22, is bridging the gap with the national rate, now at 93.6.

“We have to watch out over the next few days, to see if the Kali Puja, Diwali and Chhath celebrations did considerable damage. There were all sorts of pessimistic estimates ahead of Durga Puja, but we saw it off with not only little damage but also this remarkable turnaround,” said the minister.

The 50 deaths of the day included 10 in Calcutta. Of the total deaths, 6,620 (83.6 per cent) were attributed to comorbidities. The state’s mortality rate is 1.76, still less than the national rate of 1.46.

“This is one area where we haven’t been able to meet our goals. The aim was to take it to less than 1.5 months ago, but the climbdown from 2 has been very sluggish,” said the minister.

With 44,159 tests on Friday, the state’s total test count went past 54.34 lakh, crossing the milestone of 60,000 tests per million people, to touch 60,379. The positive confirmation rate remained at 8.27 per cent.

The state reported 28.48 per cent occupancy on 13,508 beds earmarked for Covid-19 at 101 dedicated hospitals. Over 4.66 lakh telemedicine consultations have been provided on the pandemic so far.