US uptick of COVID-19 cases concerning but not surprising: expert

NEW YORK - The uptick in new US coronavirus cases in recent days is concerning, but not yet cause for alarm, and officials were monitoring it "very, very carefully," said Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, on Sunday.

Across the country, there are more than 30,700 new virus cases being reported each day, on average, a 2 percent increase from two weeks ago. Some regions and cities, including New York City and Washington, D.C., are experiencing sharper increases, reported The New York Times.

In New York City, cases have increased nearly 50 percent over the past two weeks, and several officials and Broadway stars have recently tested positive. Several lawmakers and Biden administration officials in Washington have recently tested positive, too.

Fauci told ABC's "This Week" that this rise is not surprising, given the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron subvariant known as BA.2 and the easing of many public health measures, such as mask mandates, across the country.

However, he noted, most areas of the country have low community levels of COVID-19, and it is hopeful that the nation is not to see a large surge in hospitalizations or deaths, which lag behind new cases and are still declining nationwide.