Delaware announced 192 additional cases of coronavirus on Friday, continuing the trend of relatively large daily increases compared with two weeks ago heading into the July Fourth holiday.

Of those, 159 positive cases were reported on Thursday while 33 were from test results reported in previous days, state officials said Friday.

The state also reported two additional deaths due to the virus on Friday, bringing the total deceased in Delaware from coronavirus complications to 512.

Delaware is seeing a surge in new cases compared with the rate of new cases two weeks ago. The state was reporting an average of 56 new cases daily as of  18. That average has gone up to 127 as of Thursday, according to state data. 

The state reported 221 new cases on Thursday, the highest daily increase since May. 

State health officials consider the percent of positive cases and the number of hospitalizations as important indicators of COVID-19’s spread. At a press briefing this week, Dr. Karyl Rattay, director of the Division of Public Health, said anything above 5% of positive cases is considered a “red flag.”

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As of Thursday, that figure was at 6%, according to state data. 

The state has reported 11,923 total cases as of Friday. 

While the daily number of new cases is trending up, hospitalizations are trending down, according to state figures. 

The number of people fighting the virus in the hospital was down by 10 in the figures reported Friday. Currently, 57 individuals are hospitalized due to COVID-19 in Delaware, 13 of those people are considered critically ill, according to the state. 

All of this comes ahead of the celebrations of the holiday weekend, one of the busiest for Delaware’s beach communities.

Since June 21, the state has seen a significant increase in cases in the Rehoboth-Dewey Beach ZIP code. Many of these cases are in young people and beach residents, according to the state.

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Other states have closed their beaches ahead of the weekend, but Delaware’s remain open. Gov. John Carney ordered bar service in eastern Sussex closed ahead of the busy weekend.

Some resort towns are requiring masks within their borders and on their beaches.