Led by Jefferson County, the state posted 1,614 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, increasing the statewide growth rate for the third consecutive day.

Alabama’s four most populous counties again had the highest numbers of confirmed new cases as the total number since the pandemic began grew to 52,908, according to the state Department of Public Health’s daily update. There were 653 cases shown as probably from the disease but still under study.

There were seven deaths for the 24-hour period, including three in Chambers County, which has recorded 30 deaths from COVID-19 overall. Statewide, there have been 1,093 deaths, plus another 28 listed as probably from the illness but not confirmed.

The state has averaged 1,351 new cases a day over the past week and 1,282 daily for the past 14 days.

Jefferson County has recorded 6,746 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began in March. It reported no new deaths in the Sunday report but still leads the state with 170 deaths.

Mobile County listed 151 new cases and one death, raising its totals to 4,904 and 140, respectively. Madison County reported 149 cases to boost its total to 2,268 while Montgomery County had 117 for a total of 4,547.

The COVID-19 Dashboard showed 6,745 people have been hospitalized with the disease. It said 25,783 who tested positive are presumed to have recovered, and 510,827 individuals have been tested.

The list of counties and numbers of cases, individuals tested and deaths.