West Bengal on Thursday reported one of the sharpest fall in active Covid cases on the back of high recoveries, and lower fresh infections. The test positivity rate fell significantly to 23 per cent.
The numbers came-in hours after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced extension of "lockdown like restrictions" till June 15.
Lockdown-like restrictions were supposed to be in place till May 30.
On Thursday, the state reported just 13,046 fresh cases and over 19,200 recoveries. Deaths, on a 24 hour basis declined to 148.
Active cases fell by over 6,200 to 1,17,154 with 18 of the 23 districts reporting a higher recoveries than fresh cases.
The state also reported a drop in daily testing numbers, to just 57,165, from record high levels of over 77,000. The test positivity rate drop to 23 per cent indicated that 23 out of every 100 people tested were Covid positive.
Amongst the districts, Kolkata - one of the worst hit - saw a huge decline in fresh infections on a 24-hr-basis. Fresh infections on Thursday stood at 1,489, down from 2,378 a day-before.
Hooghly too saw cases drop suddenly for the second consecutive day. New Covid infections stood at 596, down from the 1000-odd cases it reported a day-before.
North 24 Parganas, despite a substantial fall in cases (to 2975 from over 3400) continue to be the worst hit.
Howrah and South 24 Parganas continue to report a high surge with over 1,000 fresh infections still being reported daily across these two districts.