The state added 226 deaths from COVID-19 and 2,848 new cases of the disease in Friday’s daily update by the Alabama Department of Public Health.

The report marked the third time this week that the number of deaths exceeded 200, and it pushed the death toll for the pandemic to 7,566. The daily numbers posted by ADPH do not reflect deaths during a single day, but rather the number reported or confirmed on that date. It can take days or weeks for reports to reach the the department.

There have been 455,582 cases of COVID-19 in Alabama since the pandemic began last March. The average number of cases per day over the past week stood at 2,785, well below the high of 4,280 a day during the week ended Jan. 10.

The percentage of people testing positive for the coronavirus also was Friday down from the high points of early January, but still far above the 5% rate that is considered ideal. The seven-day positivity are stood at 24% in Friday’s report, compared to 38% on Jan. 5.

ADPH said 41,483 people have been hospitalized with COVID-19, including 2,052 who were being treated on Thursday. The peak so far was 3,084 on Jan. 11.

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