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Alabama’s COVID-19 case count continued to rise Friday as the state Department of Public Health reported 1,733 new cases.

There have been 567,243 cases in the state over the course of the pandemic, with an average of 1,238 new cases a day over the past week. The seven-day moving figure had dropped to 121 on July 6 but has steadily risen since then.

ADPH said the number of people hospitalized for the coronavirus reached 727 Friday, more than triple the total of 204 at the beginning of the month. The agency reported four new deaths on Friday, bringing the overall total to 11,472. The daily average number of deaths for the past week has been just over four.

Health officials have blamed much of the spread of COVID-19 in Alabama on the state’s low vaccination rate — just over one-third of the population is fully vaccinated — and the emergence of the delta variance, which spreads more quickly than the original virus.