Bengal on Friday reported a drop in total active cases for the 81st day on the trot since Vijaya Dashami, an improvement of nearly 81 per cent during this time, to 7,223.

The state on Friday, the eve of the first phase of the nation-wide vaccination rollout, logged 656 Covid-19 recoveries, 623 new infections and 16 deaths, five from Calcutta.

Bengal’s Covid recovery rate has risen for 85 days straight, from 87.44, to 96.94 per cent, leading the national rate by 0.43 per cent now.

Calcutta High Court had intervened with instructions against crowding over Durga Puja, Kali Puja, Diwali and Chhath. A similar set of the court’s instructions came ahead of New Year celebrations.

Both times, the number of infections showed that the court’s instructions were effective. “Friday was Day 10 for someone who got infected on January 6…We have managed to see off the Christmas-New Year spell of revelry without a worsening of the outbreak,” said a minister, calling the phase “incredible”. It is between days six and 10 of the infection that most cases get detected.

The state’s positive confirmation rate is 7.43 per cent now, having improved steadily over 56 days, from 8.27. “That is a fairly definite indicator that the spread is shrinking in the state,” added the minister, crediting “excellent pandemic management”.

In 81 days since Dashami on October 26, the state reported nearly 2.37 lakh recoveries and 2.1 lakh new infections. Overall, Bengal’s 5.64 lakh cases includes nearly 5.47 lakh recoveries and 10,026 deaths. The state attributed 8,411 deaths or 83.9 per cent of the toll to comorbidities. Bengal’s mortality rate is now 1.77 compared to the 1.44 per cent nationally.

Bengal’s total test count, including 30,560 tests on Friday, is over 75.91 lakh now, at 84,346 tests per million people.