COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The Ohio Department of Health on Thursday reported 26,610 COVID-19 cases for the past week, marking a consistent rise in new cases for three weeks straight.

Ohio has seen more than 20,000 new COVID-19 cases for two weeks consecutively: the state saw 24,465 more people contract the virus the week before, meaning there have been 51,075 new cases in just two weeks. The jump in cases week-to-week was not as dramatic as July 14, however, when Ohio saw a nearly 30% increase.

Prior to the last two weeks, the state's COVID-19 spread had not broken 20,000 new cases in nearly five months. The jump is a rebound from four weeks where Ohio had no clear upward or downward trend in case rates. It previously saw an eight-week streak of consistent rises in new cases end in late May. Over the past week, the state averaged 3,801 new coronavirus cases per day.

ODH began reporting COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, deaths and vaccinations weekly instead of daily in mid-March after new infections slowed to a low level after the omicron wave. The rise in cases was accompanied by more people being hospitalized with the virus. The 690 hospitalizations reported by ODH in the past seven days (about 99 per day) are higher than 550 last week and 411 two weeks ago.

While more people were infected with or hospitalized by COVID-19, fewer people died from it. ODH said 22 more people had died from the virus by Thursday, compared to 39 the week prior. This was the second week of new data after a two-week hiatus, as the National Center for Health Statistics implemented a new coding system. In a June 23 update, the state reported 121 people died from COVID-19 since June 2.

As cases were consistently going up, 8,870 Ohioans started the COVID-19 vaccination process in the past seven days, per ODH data. Another 6,897 finished vaccination by getting their second dose. Around six in 10 Ohioans are partially or fully vaccinated.