Bengal on Thursday reported a dip in its total active cases for the 45th day since Dashami on October 26, but was ranked third among states with the most number of active cases, after Maharashtra and Kerala.

Bengal’s total active cases fell from 37,190 on October 26 to 23,451 now.

A minister explained the apparent contradiction between dip in active numbers and jump in rank. “We have not been doing badly. Others, such as Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Delhi have been doing relatively well over a fortnight or so, which is why our position has deteriorated,” he said.

Bengal logged 2,951 Covid-19 recoveries, 2,801 new cases and 49 deaths on Thursday, with 19 from Calcutta. The recovery rate rose to a new high of 93.7 per cent. The state’s mortality rate is 1.73 per cent.

The national recovery rate now is 94.77 per cent, and national mortality rate 1.45 per cent. Of the total toll, 7,470, or 83.8 per cent were attributed to comorbidities.

In the 45 days since the end of Puja, the state has recorded over 1.71 lakh recoveries, outweighing the 1.6 lakh new cases found. For the fourth successive day the state reported less than 3,000 new infections, the first time since August.

“We are back on track for ending the year with less than 23,000 active cases and a recovery rate of over 95,” the minister added.

The state now has over 5.13 lakh Covid-19 cases, including 4.81 lakh recoveries and 8,916 deaths. With 42,152 tests on Thursday, the state’s total test count went past 62.98 lakh, at 69,978 tests per million people. The positive confirmation rate is 8.16 per cent now.

Bengal reported 22.88 per cent occupancy in the 13,588 beds earmarked for Covid-19 in the 102 dedicated hospitals for the pandemic, besides over 5.21 lakh telemedicine consultations so far this pandemic.