The spread of COVID-19 in Alabama continued to accelerate Saturday, with the state Department of Public Health reporting 1,888 new cases in its daily update.

The state has averaged 1,642 new cases a day since Monday, and health officials have blamed the rapid rise on the state’s low vaccination rate and and the spread of the more contageous delta variance of the coronavirus. With about a third of the state’s population fully vaccinated, the daily average number of new cases has grown from 121 on July 6.

There have been 569,131 cases of the coronavirus and 11,483 deaths from the disease in Alabama since the pandemic began in March 2020. The state has averaged eight deaths per day this week.

With the growing number of cases, ADPH reported another increase in the number of people hospitalized on Saturday for the coronavirus. The report said 99 hospitals across the state were treating 788 COVID-19 patients. That is up from 429 a week earlier and 204 on July 1.