The Alabama Department of Public Health reported 448 new cases of COVID-19 and 77 deaths from the disease in Friday’s daily update.

There have been 502,711 cases and 10,299 deaths in the state since the pandemic began a year ago.

The state has averaged 546 cases a day over the past week, the lowest since an average of 539 a year last June 11.

There was also encouraging news in the percentage of people who test positive for the coronavirus. An avereage of 9.98% of those tested over the past week showed positive for the disease, according to the Bamatracker website. The rate reached a high of 36.84% on Jan. 2 and stood at 17.81% a week ago.