County public health data 203 new COVID-19 cases Thursday and 25 new virus deaths.

Thursday’s new cases are more than double the 89 new cases the county saw Wednesday but are still below the week-high of 237 new cases on Tuesday. Thursday’s numbers are a considerable improvement from last week, which saw an average of more than 280 new cases a day.

County cases and deaths have been returning to the levels they were at before the summer surge. COVD-19 cases peaked in the county in late June and early July, according to data from the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, reaching 3,825 cases in a day on June 29. The most recent data shows case numbers ticking up slightly. In the most recent day of complete data, Wednesday, Sept. 16, the county’s seven-day daily average was 247 cases, a notable rise from four days prior when the figure was at 190. It is the largest rise in the seven-day average since mid-July when numbers began to decline from the county’s peak.

The county’s surge in coronavirus-related deaths has lagged a couple weeks after the surge in cases, as is typical with COVID-19 reporting. The county’s worst single-day death total was 66 on July 15. Daily death totals declining steadily but have not declined to the level they were at before the county’s surge. In the most recent day of complete data, Monday, Sept. 7, the seven-day daily average was 8 deaths a day, the smallest its been since May 15, well before start of the county’s surge in deaths in mid-June. In early June and prior, before the surge, county death totals were consistently below 10 a day.