The state of Maine saw a significant rise in new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, as a surge being blamed on the Delta variant shows no signs of abating.

Thursday’s new daily case total of 624 is the highest reported since mid-January. There were also three new deaths related to COVID-19.

Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah said in recent days they’ve been processing a backlog of positive tests and that some of the new infections reported each day may not be from the last 24-hour period.

The state continues to see an upward trend in the number of new cases reported each day, with the 7-day average of new daily cases reaching 316. That’s compared to 204 a week ago and 164 two weeks ago.