Bengal’s total of active Covid-19 cases fell by 7,850 to 87,048 on Monday, as the state logged 17,856 recoveries, 10,137 new infections, and 131 deaths.

The month of May was a mixed bag for the state in the second wave of the pandemic, as the first two-three weeks were a story of largely unabated surge in the outbreak, while the latter half — especially the last 10 days — showed reliable signs of a turnaround.

Over the month, Bengal reported over 5.3 lakh new infections, but it was outweighed considerably by the 5.56 lakh recoveries. There were 4,097 Covid-19 deaths in May.

“We began May with 1.16 lakh active cases, with the recovery rate at 84.68 per cent. We are ending it with 87,000 active cases, and a recovery rate of 92.55,” said a minister.

In another significantly positive indicator, the recovery rate rose for the 30th consecutive day, rising by nearly 8 percentage points. The national rate now is 92.03.

Bengal now has 4.57 per cent of the national total of active cases, and is sixth on the list of states with most active cases.

“At the beginning of May, our daily positive confirmation rate was over 31 per cent. Today, it is barely 17 per cent,” said the minister.

Deemed a key indicator this pandemic, the positive confirmation rate is the percentage of positive cases out of samples tested. A decreasing positive confirmation rate is indicative of reducing levels of Covid-19 spread.

With 15,541 deaths in all this pandemic, Bengal’s overall mortality rate is 1.12 per cent at the moment, while the national figure is 1.17 per cent.

Of the 131 deaths reported on Monday, 28 were reported from Calcutta and 33 from North 24-Parganas, the two worst affected districts in the state.

Calcutta logged 1,324 new infections, North 24-Parganas 2,376.

The minister said that the two worst-hit districts were also showing signs of improvement.

“At the start of May, these two districts had around 50,000 active cases between them. Today, it is down to barely 30,000,” he said.