Bengal on Wednesday logged the highest 24-hour jump in deaths, with 61, and new Covid-19 cases, with 2,816.

Prior to this, the most number of single-day deaths was 54 and the highest number of Covid-19 cases was 2,752, both on Tuesday.

Calcutta and North 24-Parganas reported a toll of 25 and 13 on Wednesday.

The total infection tally rose by 61,000 in a month, while nearly 44,000 recoveries were reported in the same period. The state’s total case count is nearly 84,000, of which around 59,000 are recoveries.

However, on the bright side, Bengal tested 24,047 on Wednesday, taking the number of tests past 10 lakh, 78 days after achieving the first lakh, with the last lakh being achieved in just four days.

The highlight of the day, according to a minister, was the total test count of 10,03,027, at 11,145 per million people. A month ago, Bengal had 5.52 lakh tests, at 6,133 per million.

“We had expected to cross 10 lakh on Thursday. We bettered that estimate by a day. We covered the latest lakh in just four days,” he added.

Pointing out that chief minister Mamata Banerjee had set a target weeks ago of achieving 25,000 tests daily by August 15 – a month ago, the state was barely conducting 11,000 a day – and even that estimate is likely to be bettered by seven to nine days.

“We are already past 24,000 daily. We are poised now to achieve one lakh tests every four days, or around 8 lakh tests a month. What’s more, we will keep ramping up our testing,” he said.

Bengal’s recovery rate is 70.36 per cent, with the national rate being 67.45 per per cent.

Owing to the sharp spike in new cases since the end of June, the positive confirmation rate is now 8.35 per cent, over twice the 4.16 a month ago.

Of the 2,816 new cases, 709 were from North 24-Parganas, while 665 were from Calcutta.

Of the total 1,846 deaths reported, Calcutta alone accounted for 860, and North 24-Parganas 416. The state government reported 1,617 or 87.6 per cent as deaths with co-morbidity “present”. In a month, there have been 1,067 reported deaths of Covid-19 infected people, of which 1,004 were comorbid, the government said.

Bengal’s overall mortality rate was 2.2 per cent, compared to the national rate of 2.07 per cent. Calcutta’s mortality rate fell to 3.41 per cent.