Universities in the US switched to virtual mode 3:28
(CNN) - State
leaders across the country are becoming alarmed by the rise in COVID-19 cases, which experts say could herald an imminent increase.
In New York they have created hotbeds in certain zip codes with a positivity rate roughly five times the statewide figure, the governor said.
The groups are a "stark reminder" that New Yorkers should be vigilant, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.
"Wear a mask, physical distance, follow public health guidelines, because this is not over," Cuomo said in a statement.
Top health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also warned that the United States could experience an especially challenging fall and winter this year.
They say cities and counties should prepare by keeping safety measures and guidelines in place.
"We are still knee deep in the first wave of this," Fauci said in a live feed on Facebook and Twitter.
While US states raise alarms for increases in covid-19 cases, some communities relax restrictions
California, in trouble due to the increase of the coronavirus 2:07
Increase in covid-19 cases in other states
In Kentucky, Governor Andy Beshear urged the state to halt a recent "spike" in cases after reporting more than 1,000 new infections for the second day in a row.
"Today's daily report is too high," said the governor.
"I need your help.
It is up to us and we have to do this.
Wisconsin reported the highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations on record, and hospitalized patients nearly doubled in the state since Sept. 18, according to hospital officials.
And in Illinois, the governor is tightening restrictions in one part of the state after an increase in positivity rates.
At least 27 states have reported more new cases since the previous week and only nine are reporting a decline, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Nationwide, more than 7.2 million people have been infected and more than 206,000 Americans have died from COVID-19.
The coronavirus vaccine
This Wednesday, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said that if its COVID-19 vaccine is shown to be safe and effective, it could be available to the general population in late March or early April 2021.
Moderna began phase 3 of its clinical trial for a COVID-19 vaccine in the United States in July.
It is one of four companies that have begun phase 3 trials of the COVID-19 vaccine in the United States.
The others are Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer / BioNTech and AstraZeneca.
The AstraZeneca trial was paused after an unexplained illness in a volunteer, and US health authorities are still considering crucial questions that remain around injections of the experimental vaccine.
"I think a late first quarter and early second quarter approval is a reasonable timeframe, based on what we know about our vaccine," Bancel told a conference organized by the Financial Times.
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Universities in the United States switch to virtual mode due to the increase in cases of covid-19
Covid-19 and its impact on the hearts of Hispanic women 5:35
Licenses for vaccines
But there are several steps that will have to come before that.
If the safety and efficacy data are correct, Bancel says it hopes Moderna can file a Biologics License Application (BLA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). English) in late January or early February.
That request asks the FDA to consider granting a full license to a drug, while an emergency use authorization (EUA) streamlines the use of a drug candidate in an emergency.
Moderna could apply for an EUA starting Nov. 25 for people who are considered high priority, including healthcare workers and the elderly, Bancel said.
Until a vaccine is available, experts have long said that the country's most powerful tools against the pandemic are face masks and other safety measures like physical distancing.
But even when a vaccine is ready, health officials like Fauci have said there will still be room for the virus to spread, as the vaccine is unlikely to be 100% effective or taken by 100% of the population.
"I think if we can vaccinate 75 to 80% of the population, I think it would be a great achievement," Fauci said last week.
Mississippi lifts mask mandate
Despite officials continuing to advocate for the use of masks, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves announced Wednesday that he will not extend the state's mask mandate, saying that state figures, for the average number of new covid- 19, have decreased.
"It has been a great few weeks for the covid-19 figures," said the governor.
"We have halved our average number of new cases, we have reduced hospitalizations by two-thirds of what they were before."
Mississippi has reported more than 98,000 infections since the beginning of the pandemic.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, Mississippi is one of 14 states that have been seeing a steady number of new cases compared to the previous week.
More communities across the country have further loosened restrictions in recent days, including several in Florida, where the governor led the way for bars and restaurants to reopen completely.
Wyoming, which last week set a single-day record for new COVID-19 cases, also relaxed the rules around restaurants.
Nevada relaxed restrictions on public gatherings.
And in California several counties received the green light to move to less restrictive levels of the state's reopening plan.
Despite removing the mask mandate in Mississippi, the governor urged residents to continue to cover their faces, saying it is "the smartest, most prudent and wise thing to do."
- CNN's Kristina Sgueglia, Lauren Mascarenhas, Claudia Dominguez, and Kay Jones contributed to this report.
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