Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday capped the cost of RT-PCR testing for Covid-19 at Rs 950 in Bengal’s private facilities, down from the existing Rs 1,500.

“The state now has 95 laboratories approved by the Centre for Covid-19 testing, of which 45 — state-run and private — conduct tests using RT-PCR,” a minister said.

Covid-19 testing by the RT-PCR method fell from the initial Rs 4,000-plus to Rs 2,250 in June, Rs 1,500 in October and Rs 950 now, he said.

On Thursday, the state reported 44,130 tests, taking the total to 60.03 lakh, at 66,699 tests per million people.

Bengal logged 3,257 recoveries, 3,246 new infections and 49 deaths, 12 from Calcutta. The state has 24,106 active cases in all, having fallen by 13,084 since Dashami on October 26, a continuous dip since 38 days.

During these 38 days, Bengal reported over 1.5 lakh recoveries and 1.39 lakh new infections.

The state now has a total of over 4.93 lakh infections, which includes over 4.6 lakh recoveries and 8,576 deaths.

The recovery rate, rising for 42 consecutive days, rose to 93.38, closer to the national rate of 94.18 per cent.

The state’s mortality rate improved to 1.73, but is still behind the national rate of 1.45 per cent. Of Bengal’s total toll, 7,180, or 83.7 per cent comorbid deaths.

The state reported 26.05 per cent occupancy in the 13,538 beds earmarked for Covid-19 in the 102 dedicated hospitals for the pandemic, besides over 5.03 lakh telemedicine consultations so far this pandemic.