California recorded its highest-ever seven-day average of new coronavirus cases Sunday since the pandemic began.

After experiencing the two biggest ever single-day cases increases this week on Saturday and Wednesday, the state hit an average of 3,661 new cases over the prior seven days as of Sunday — its biggest yet.

The seven-day new case average has generally increased for weeks — reflecting the increasing caseload recorded throughout the state — but dipped slightly Friday down to 3,392 before surging again over the weekend.

County health departments Sunday meanwhile reported 2,954 new coronavirus cases, down from 4,075 Saturday, which marked the state’s the second-largest case jump ever reported. Sixteen people died from COVID-19 statewide Sunday, down from 71 Saturday.

Statewide, the seven-day average for coronavirus deaths has decreased slowly to 61 as of Sunday, down from a recent peak of 70 on June 2 and an all-time high of 80 on April 24.

However, various counties — including Alameda, San Francisco and San Mateo counties in the Bay Area — did not report new updates as of Sunday, perhaps contributing to the lower single-day numbers. Contra Costa County reported six new deaths along with 54 new cases, while Santa Clara County reported 89 new cases.

Santa Clara remains the hardest-hit county in the region in terms of deaths, but has since been surpassed by Alameda in terms of cases. Marin County, which has seen cases surge in recent weeks, recorded 42 new cases for a total of 913.

Per the latest California Department of Public Health update on Saturday, a record 3,574 people were hospitalized statewide with confirmed COVID-19. That marked 77 more patients than the previous high of 3,497 confirmed COVID-19 patients reported on April 29. Another 1,105 people were hospitalized with suspected COVID-19, the state said.

Meanwhile, testing has climbed statewide, with about 85,000 test results reported Saturday for a total of about 3.3 million tests since the pandemic began.

Harriet Blair Rowan contributed to this report.