Led by the Birmingham, Huntsville and Mobile areas, Alabama experienced its worst day yet in the spread of COVID-19, the Alabama Department of Public Health reported Friday.

The agency’s COVID dashboard showed 1,758 new confirmed cases of the disease in its 24-hour report. That brought the total to 41,362 since the pandemic began in March. Another 507 cases were listed as probably from the virus, but not yet confirmed.

The number of deaths rose by 22 for a total of 983, plus 24 that are probably from the disease but still under study.

The daily figures reflected a dramatic increase in the growth of COVID-19. Statistics this week showed an average daily increase of 974 for the seven-day period thorugh Wednesday and an average increase of 823 a day for the 14-day period.

Jefferson County reported one of its biggest spikes on Friday, with 270 new confirmed cases to bring its total to 4,802. The state’s most populous county also listed nine deaths for a total of 152. Jefferson leads the state in both of those categories.

Madison County, home of Huntsville, had 167 new cases for a total of 1,271 but its death toll remained at seven. Mobile County reported 104 cases to raise its total to 3,904; its death count remained at 134.

Montgomery County, which had been the state’s covid hotspot during part of June, listed 72 cases to raise its total to 3,947, second behind Jefferson. It had one death for a total of 103,

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