A net total of 282 new cases of COVID-19 were reported Tuesday by the Alabama Department of Public Health, continuing a trend of daily figures hovering near the 300 mark over the past week.

The department reported a total of 1,432 cases in its daily report but noted that 1,150 of those were from a backlog of cases dating from Oct. 22 to last week. When adjusted to account for the backlog, the 7-day moving average of new cases stands at 319.86, reflecting a slight rise in the past week.

Face masks have become optional for most places in the state since Friday.

A total of 520,503 Alabamians have been infected by the coronavirus since the pandemic began in March of last year, and 10,722 people have died as a result. Ten new deaths were reported Tuesday, which exactly equals the current 7-day average.

The ADPH reported 323 people were hospitalized because of COVID-19 as of Monday, a slight uptick over the recent trend of declining patient counts. Those numbers are roughly one-tenth of the totals back in January, when hospitals across the state struggled to find enough beds to handle the increased load.

The current breakdown of data by county:

County                Cases        Tests Deaths

Autauga		6734	27573	103
Baldwin		20652	108190	300
Barbour		2252	11816	55
Bibb		2564	13595	59
Blount		6497	25018	135
Bullock		1213	5902	40
Butler		2125	8462	66
Calhoun		14301	66850	311
Chambers		3503	17113	122
Cherokee		1821	8714	44
Chilton		4087	17903	109
Choctaw		587	2688	24
Clarke		3465	14888	60
Clay		1495	6888	55
Cleburne		1462	5939	41
Coffee		5404	26939	112
Colbert		6210	27670	130
Conecuh		1091	4709	28
Coosa		993	3668	28
Covington		4056	19505	114
Crenshaw		1492	6282	57
Cullman		9481	41602	188
Dale		4766	26366	110
Dallas		3531	17352	149
DeKalb		8748	31122	181
Elmore		10001	49491	200
Escambia		3885	15753	74
Etowah		13665	59681	346
Fayette		2092	8405	60
Franklin		4199	15377	82
Geneva		2458	12828	75
Greene		910	4285	34
Hale		2187	9976	75
Henry		1877	8864	44
Houston		10381	59574	278
Jackson		6762	30947	110
Jefferson		75409	418132	1487
Lamar		1393	6049	34
Lauderdale		9223	42874	227
Lawrence		2953	10159	95
Lee		15541	87304	165
Limestone		9822	38037	147
Lowndes		1365	4737	53
Macon		1548	8415	48
Madison		33898	204306	495
Marengo		2486	12111	61
Marion		3066	12277	100
Marshall		11967	46581	219
Mobile		38938	194843	798
Monroe		1720	8699	40
Montgomery		23992	109181	567
Morgan		14145	55159	270
Perry		1079	4856	26
Pickens		2330	10745	59
Pike		3058	14899	76
Randolph		1769	8790	41
Russell		4290	19491	38
St. Clair		9435	43758	234
Shelby		23124	120393	239
Sumter		1029	4922	32
Talladega		8071	36686	171
Tallapoosa		3898	24102	146
Tuscaloosa		25297	153547	443
Walker		7100	28714	275
Washington		1642	7110	38
Wilcox		1243	5631	27
Winston		2725	10873	72