Active Covid-19 cases in Bengal recorded a surge for the seventh consecutive day as their number went up by 53 to reach 3,241 on Thursday.

The state on Thursday reported 268 recoveries, 323 infections and two deaths. Both the fatalities were in Calcutta.

Bengal now has 1.21 per cent of the total active cases in the country, having improved from over seven per cent at the start of this year.

The recovery rate is 97.66 per cent, still considerably ahead of the national rate of 96.25 now. The state’s positive confirmation rate is 6.51 per cent. On Thursday, the state reported 19,509 tests, taking the total past 88.94 lakh. Tests per million people were 98,831 on Thursday.

Of the total deaths of 10,300 from the disease, 8,652 (84 per cent) were attributed to comorbidities. Bengal’s mortality rate remained 1.77, while the national rate was 1.38 per cent.

Number of active cases had fallen for 136 days at a stretch since Vijaya Dashami last year. But the number of current patents started climbing on March 5. Before March 5, the total of active cases had fallen from 37,190 on October 26 last year to 3,110.