Bengal, backed by 4,468 new recoveries on Friday, continued with its longest spell of uninterrupted drop in its total active Covid-19 cases. The state reported a total drop of 5,689 active cases in 18 days since the end of Durga Puja.

“On Vijaya Dashami, total active cases was 37,190. Today, it is 31,501, back to the level of October 14,” said a minister.

Bengal also logged 3,835 new infections and 51 deaths, 10 from Calcutta. The state has a caseload of 4.24 lakh, including over 3.85 lakh recoveries and 7,557 deaths.

The state’s recovery rate rose to a new high of 90.8, inching closer to the national rate of 92.99 per cent. The state’s Covid-19 mortality rate improved to 1.77, but remained less than the national rate of 1.47 per cent.

In the 18 days since the end of Puja, Bengal reported 75,531 recoveries and 70,853 new infections, undoing much of the damage from a major spike in infections for six weeks before the festival. “We are now fifth on the list of states with highest mortality rates, after Punjab, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Sikkim. We aim to drop out of the top 10 in a fortnight,” said the minister.

Calcutta High Court had intervened to prevent a worsening of the pandemic over Durga Puja. The numbers of infections from the Puja days, largely available by now, has shown that the intervention was effective. The high court has issued a similar set of instructions for Kali Puja, Diwali and Chhath.

With 44,312 tests on Friday, the state’s total test count went past 51.36 lakh, at 57,067 tests per million people. The positive confirmation rate is 8.27 per cent now.

The state reported 32.53 per cent occupancy in the 13,508 beds earmarked for Covid-19 in the 101 dedicated hospitals for the pandemic, besides over 4.43 lakh telemedicine consultations so far this pandemic.