WATERTOWN — The county administrator on Thursday reported the first death due to COVID-19 in Jefferson County.

“Regrettably, this is a day that we had hoped would never come,” Robert Hagemann, the county administrator wrote in an email Thursday afternoon. “I must inform you that we’ve now had our first death to report.”

There were no new positive cases to report for the third consecutive day, and the number of recovered cases has increased by five for a new total of 163, he wrote in the email.

“We must remain vigilant in our efforts to minimize the spread of this terrible virus by continuing to exercise social distancing and wearing a mask when in public,” Hagemann wrote.

“Hopefully, this will be the only time that we’ll have to advise you of such a tragic matter involving one of our residents.”