Fauci Warns COVID-19 Cases Rising In Midwest, Northeast; Vermont Up By 60%

White House chief medical advisor and top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci on Monday warned against another surge of COVID-19 cases in the country as infection rates continue to climb in the Midwest and Northeast.

During an interview with CNBC’s Shepard Smith, Fauci warned about the possibility of another spike of COVID-19 cases in winter as the average number of new infections across the United States rose by 11% from the week before. On Sunday, the country recorded a seven-day average of more than 82,000 new cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

His comments come as COVID-19 infections caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant reported in the Midwest and Northeast are starting to climb again.

“The highly infectious Delta variant is still spreading through some communities even as more kids get vaccinated and more vulnerable Americans get booster shots,” Fauci said.

Coronavirus infections have been declining for weeks since the United States hit a peak of 172,500 new daily cases on Sept. 13 and ranged between an average of 70,000 to 75,000 new infections for three weeks through most of the previous week.

However, the average daily COVID-19 cases spiked by 19% in the Midwest and 37% in the Northeast over the past week. Hospitalizations with COVID-19 are also up by 11% in the Midwest, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In the New England region, all states reported an increase in their two-week COVID-19 case counts except for Connecticut.

Vermont and New Hampshire saw a 60% and 56% rise in coronavirus cases over the last two weeks, respectively. COVID-related deaths also increased by 52% in Vermont, which saw a new record high for its seven-day count on Saturday. The state now has a rolling average of 369 new daily cases, according to an NBC News analysis of coronavirus data.

The rise of cases in Vermont is notable as it has the highest vaccination rates across the U.S., with 72% of its residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19. However, Dr. Jan Carney, an associate dean for public health at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said the current surge is fueled by unvaccinated residents in rural areas in the northeastern part of the state.

As of Monday, the U.S. recorded 47,077,864 COVID-19 cases and 763,092 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.