Bengal total Covid cases fall below 28,000 - The state reported 88,866 recoveries and 80,741 infections in the three weeks since the end of Puja

The state on Monday logged 3,012 new infections, 4,376 recoveries and 53 deaths

The total of active cases has fallen for 21 consecutive days since the end of Durga Puja. The number dropped by 9,293 since Vijaya Dashami.

Meghdeep Bhattacharyya   |   Calcutta   |   17.11.20  :  Bengal reported a drop by 2,895 in total number of active Covid-19 cases over Sunday and Monday, taking the tally of existing patients to 27,897 — close to the figure on October 5.

The state on Monday logged 3,012 new infections, the least since September 4. There were 4,376 recoveries and 53 deaths also.

The total of active cases has fallen for 21 consecutive days since the end of Durga Puja. The number dropped by 9,293 since Vijaya Dashami.

“The total active cases fell by 1,478 on Sunday and 1,417 today (Monday). There were 6,065 infections and 8,856 recoveries in the past two days,” said a Bengal minister.

The state reported 88,866 recoveries and 80,741 infections in the three weeks since the end of Puja, undoing much of the damage from a major spike in the positive cases, along with relatively fewer number of cured patients, for six weeks prior to the festival.

Calcutta High Court had intervened to prevent the worsening of the pandemic over Durga Puja. The numbers of infections during the Puja days showed that the intervention was effective. The high court issued a similar set of instructions for Kali Puja, Diwali and Chhath to keep the novel coronavirus under check.

“There have been many unexpected and almost miraculous positives in the past three weeks. But this steep drop in the total number of active cases over these two days is yet another big one,” said the minister.

Asked if the lower number of cases being found on Sunday and Monday was because of relatively low tests — 38,000-odd instead of the current average level of 43,000-45,000, the minister said: “It could be one of the factors, but we are yet to conclusively ascertain what it is to be attributed to.”

With 38,127 tests on Monday, over 52.56 lakh swab samples were examined. The number of tests per million people are 58,410 now.

The positive confirmation rate is 8.27 per cent.

The recovery rate, currently in an unbroken spell of rise for 25 consecutive days, touched another new high of 91.81. The current national rate is 93.36 per cent.

The state has recorded a total of 4.34 lakh Covid-19 cases, including nearly 3.99 lakh recoveries and 7,714 deaths.

The 53 deaths logged on Monday included 14 each from Calcutta and North 24-Parganas.

Of the total deaths, 6,454 (83.7 per cent) were attributed to comorbidities.

The state’s mortality rate is 1.77, still less than the national rate of 1.47 per cent.

While 30.02 per cent of 13,508 beds earmarked for Covid-19 at 101 dedicated hospitals in Bengal were occupied as of Monday, over 4.53 lakh telemedicine consultations have been provided for the disease so far.