PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona on Friday reported over 100 additional known coronavirus deaths for the third straight day and one of the largest daily increases in cases during the current surge.

The Department of Health Services reported 142 additional known deaths and 7,635 new confirmed cases, bringing the statewide totals to 7,819 deaths and 442,671 cases.

Virus-related hospitalizations in Arizona reached 3,931 on Thursday, the latest in a string of pandemic records started earlier this month. Before the current surge, the previous daily hospitalization record was 3,517 on July 13 during the state’s summer surge.

Arizona hospitals are nearly at capacity, with only 7% of beds available and not in use.

Arizona’s COVID-19 outbreak was already growing before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend but has accelerated since. A senior official of a Phoenix-based hospital chain urged people to avoid gatherings and take further precautions during the upcoming holidays.

“We’re all feeling fatigued and ready for life to get back to normal, but if we follow safety guidelines we’ll get there sooner rather than later," Dr. Marjorie Bessel, Banner Health’s chief clinical officer, said Thursday night in an email.

Dr. Cara Christ, the state's top public health official, said many people infected with COVID-19 have apparently dropped their guard in private dinners and similar settings.

“Our 600 contact tracers point again and again to situations where people socialize without taking the precautions that are required in most public places," Christ said, referring to social distancing and masking.

Arizona on Wednesday reported 108 additional deaths, followed by 147 on Thursday.

The state on Dec. 8 reported a record high of 12,314 additional confirmed virus cases. The next highest daily reports were 11,795 on Dec. 14, 10,322 on Dec. 1 and 8,076 on Dec. 12.

Seven-day rolling averages for three key COVID-19 metrics continued to rise over the past two weeks, according to data from Johns Hopkins University and The COVID Tracking Project.

The rolling average of daily new cases rose from 4,585 on Dec. 3 to 6,786 on Thursday as the rolling average of daily deaths rose from 36.1 to 74.7 and the rolling average of daily COVID-19 testing positivity increased from 13% to 14.5%.

The number of infections is thought to be far higher than reported because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.