Bengal on Monday reported a rise for the fifth consecutive day in its total of active Covid-19 cases, by 1,270 to 18,921, as only 2,171 recoveries were logged against 3,519 new infections detected.

Bengal now has 2.05 per cent of the national total of active cases and back to the top 10 at No. 9 among states with most active cases, having fallen to 13th spot last week.

The total of active cases, at an all-time high of 1,32,181 on May 21, had fallen by around 89 per cent till Wednesday to 14,702. But over these five days, it rose once again by over 4,000 (29 per cent).

The state recorded 78 deaths, including 11 from Calcutta and 17 from North 24-Parganas, the two worst-hit districts.

“The daily recovery count, has somewhat, nose-dived since Thursday, going from well over 10,000 a day to barely 2,000 a day in just five days. We are examining this closely, trying to figure out whether this is the onset of another spell of rise or just an aberration,” said a minister.

“We have been doing well in terms of steady reduction in the daily count of new infections found, having brought it down from over 21,000 to around 3,500. If only we can get the recoveries to take off again, we will be back on track,” he added.

The recovery rate, which began declining on Friday snapping a 39-day spell of rise, fell to 97.55 per cent. The national recovery rate is 95.57.

Daily confirmation rate, which had peaked in the second wave with nearly 33 per cent, fell to 6.49 per cent on Monday. Among the day’s 3,519 new Covid-19 infections, Calcutta reported 373 and North 24-Parganas 584.

Bengal’s mortality rate, with 16,974 deaths in all, remained at 1.15 per cent, while the national rate rose to 1.27.