As COVID-19 cases surge again in the U.S., Americans in high-transmission areas should take precautions such as wearing masks, federal health officials said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration reiterated its call for Congress to approve $22.5 billion in emergency pandemic spending, saying failing to do so would lead to “a lot of unnecessary loss of life.”

The seven-day average for new daily infections is around 94,000 — nearly three times what it was a month ago. In a news briefing Wednesday, Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID response coordinator, noted those numbers are believed to be an undercount, due in part to rapid, at-home testing.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said the rising cases are a result of more contagious omicron subvariants, waning immunity from previous infections and vaccinations, and the relaxation of mitigation efforts.

Every state except Maine is seeing increases in cases over the past two weeks, and more than 30% of Americans live in areas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers to have medium or high levels of transmission.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky urged leaders in high-spread communities to encourage people to mask in public, indoor settings and to increase access to tests and treatments.

“We've always said put your mask aside when infection rates are low and pick it up again when infection rates are higher,” Wallensky said.

Jha credited easier access to the oral treatment Paxlovid for keeping hospital ICU admissions and deaths down. The U.S. is recording about 275 COVID deaths a day, among its lowest rate since last July.

Jha said it’s critical for Congress to pass a $22.5 billion emergency spending bill. The money is needed, he said, for the administration to continue providing tests, treatments and vaccinations, including next-generation shots that could be available this fall or winter.

“We want to make sure that as this virus continues to evolve as we go into the fall and winter, that we're able to continue to protect Americans,” he said. 

Jha said he’s confident lawmakers will approve the funding, but added that receiving no additional resources is among the scenarios the administration is planning for. 

“I think it'd be terrible,” he said. “I think we would see a lot of unnecessary loss of life if that were to happen.”

The White House has been pushing for the funding for months. Democrats and Republicans had initially compromised by including $15 billion in pandemic aid in the $1.5 trillion federal spending bill in March. Democrats, however, were forced to strip that funding from the package after dozens of its members balked at a GOP-driven plan to use American Rescue Plan money earmarked for states to help pay for it.

The lapse in funding already is being felt. The Health Resources and Services Administration, for example, has stopped accepting claims to reimburse health care providers for testing, treating and vaccinating uninsured people.