After several months of declining case numbers, COVID-19 infection cases are rising again across the country. Many of the states that are increasing are states that are lagging in vaccinations. In an NBC article, Nigel Chiwaya reports that “Nationwide, the four-week COVID case count has more than doubled as of Monday from the previous four weeks”. The Delta variant is shown to be more transmissible than past variants. The article states that “the steepest increases have been in the South and Southeast, where Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina are dealing with the biggest outbreaks in the nation.” Many experts beleive that this is due to a low vaccination percentage when compared to the national average of 49.2%. Read more about this concern of rising cases in the NBC article here.