The number of COVID-19 cases continued rising and falling on Friday, this time with a decline from the previous day, according to data from the Maricopa County Department of Public Health.

The county reported an additional 2,031 cases on Monday, bringing the total to 186,654. The number of deaths rose again with 24 reported on Friday, bringing the county’s total to 3,874 over the pandemic’s roughly nine months in the region. That represented about a 40% increase over Thursday’s daily total.

The higher case counts have pushed the county’s seven-day average significantly higher this week. It stands at 1,655 as of Nov. 16, up roughly 250 cases per day on average compared with a week ago.

The seven-day average for deaths held at eight as of Nov. 3, but deaths tend to lag behind cases by two to three weeks.
The region has not yet hit the highs in terms cases per day it did during the height of the summer surge. During the county’s summer spike, cases reached 3,809 cases in a day on June 29.