Bengal on Monday logged the highest intra-day numbers of deaths from Covid-19 at 53 and tests at 22,122 as the recovery rate went past the 70 per cent mark for the first time with nearly 55,000 of total 78,000-odd patients being cured of the pathogen.

Prior to this, the most deaths and tests had been 49 and 21,072, respectively, reported on Sunday. Till now, 1,731 people have died from the pathogen in Bengal.

The state also reported 2,716 new cases during 24 hours till 9am on Monday, with Calcutta accounting for 756 of them. North 24-Parganas’s case count on Monday was 510.

The two districts, which have contributed half of all Covid-19 cases in Bengal, now have nearly 12,000 active patients.

“We are trying our best to rein in the outbreak in these two densely populated urban districts, which have been registering a steady rise in the cases. There is a slew of measures in place now, being overseen by most senior administrators. So, we ought to be out of the woods before too long,” said a Bengal minister.

On the plus side, the two districts have added nearly 28,000 — around half of the state-wide total — recoveries as well.

The recovery rate, which had slumped to 59 barely two weeks ago, is now 70.07 per cent, ahead of the national rate of 65.99. “We are looking to get past 80 within this month,” said the minister.

The state’s total testing is over 9.56 lakh now, with 10,630 a million.

“The chief minister had set a target of 25,000 daily tests by August 15. At this rate, we will have achieved that in the next few days,” said the minister.

However, owing to the sharp spike in new cases, the positive confirmation rate is now 8.18 per cent. Two weeks ago, it was 6.25.

Of the total 1,731 deaths reported, Calcutta alone accounted for 820, with 21 till 9am. North 24-Parganas recorded a total of 389 deaths, 21 of them on Monday.

The state government reported 1,508 deaths (87.1 per cent) as those with comorbidity “present”. In the past two weeks, there were deaths of 584 Covid-19 patients and 550 of them were reported as comorbid by the state.

Bengal’s overall mortality rate improved to 2.21, compared to the national rate of 2.1 per cent.
Calcutta’s mortality rate fell to 3.44.

The mortality rate among infected males has improved from 2.66 to 2.36 in two weeks. The women’s mortality rate dropped from 2.35 to 1.91 per cent.