Alabama added more than 3,000 cases of COVID-19 for the third day in a row, the state Department of Public Health reported Thursday.

The increase of 3,531 cases brought the state’s total to 260,359 since the pandemic began in March. Alabama has averaged 2,629 cases per day over the past week, up from an average of 2,292 a week ago.

ADPH listed 3,927 cases in Wednesdays’s report and 3,376 on Tuesdsay. The figure for Wednesday included more than 700 cases from the previous week.

The Health Department added 65 deaths in Thursday’s report raising the overall total to 3,776.

Jefferson County led the state with 502 additional cases, followed by Madison Couty with 290, Baldwin County with 178, Tuscaloosa County with 164, Mobile County with 153 and Etowah County with 147.

Despite those high numbers, several less-populous Alabama counties have reported the greatest number of new cases per 100,000 population over the past two weeks. Jackson County, in the northeast corner of the state, topped the list with 1,565 cases over the period, followed by Etowah County and Bibb County at 1,173 each, Marshall County at 1,144 and Fayette County at 1,129.

By comparison, Jefferson County has recorded 779 cases per 100,000 population during the past 14 days. Madison County had 663 and Mobile County 334.

The number of people in hospitals for COVID-19 reached a record level of 1,827 on Thursday, up from Wednesday’s record 1,801, according to the Health Department. There were 973 people in hospitals with the disease on Nov. 1, and that figure has steadily grown since then.

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