Bengal on Sunday completed eight straight weeks — 56 consecutive days — of a fall in the total of active Covid-19 cases as the state reported 673 new infections, 709 recoveries and a dozen deaths.

The total of active cases fell by 48 to 10,030.

“The last time the state reported a rise in the total of active cases was on June 20, nearly two months ago. This is yet another milestone to be proud of,” said a Bengal minister.

“The total improved from 23,016 on June 20 to 10,030 today… by over 56 per cent, in these 56 days. We had then been getting around 2,200 new infections daily and 50-60 deaths. We have come such a long way since,” he added.

With Calcutta logging 77 infections and North 24-Parganas 85, Sunday was the 10th consecutive day again of not one Bengal district reporting a three-digit figure of new infections detected.

Fifteen Bengal districts reported a two-digit figure of new infections detected. Kalimpong, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad, Birbhum, Purulia and Jhargram reported single-digit figures.

The state’s recovery rate remained 98.16 per cent — the highest ever this pandemic — still fairly ahead of the national rate of 97.43. The daily positive confirmation rate, which was nearly 33 per cent at the peak of the second wave, was 1.56 per cent on Sunday.

Sixteen Bengal districts reported zero deaths on Sunday, while Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and South 24-Parganas recorded one each. Calcutta reported two. The state’s mortality rate is 1.19 now, while that of the nation is 1.34 per cent.

Bengal now has over 15.38 lakh Covid-19 cases since the first was reported in March last year.

The total includes over 15.1 lakh recoveries and 18,303 deaths.