The United States is poised for another “avoidable” surge in new COVID-19 cases unless the public follows social distancing protocols, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky warned Monday.

“We are at a critical point in this pandemic, a fork in the road, where we as a country must decide which path we are going to take,” Walensky told reporters Monday. “We must act now, and I am worried that if we don’t take the right actions now, we will have another avoidable surge, just as we are seeing in Europe right now.”

Officials in the White House pandemic response team warned Monday that the rate of new cases in the U.S. has risen marginally since last week, suggesting that more contagious coronavirus variants are spreading. A new variant on the West Coast is responsible for more than half of all active cases in California and roughly 41% of cases in Nevada, while a variant that originated in the United Kingdom last fall is linked to 9% of new cases confirmed in New Jersey.

“Believe me, I get it,” Walensky said. “We all want to return to our everyday activities and spend time with our family, friends, and loved ones, but we must find the fortitude to hang in there for just a little bit longer.”

The average weekly rate of new cases rose slightly from last week, from about 53,700 daily cases during the week ending March 13 to roughly 54,300 daily cases in the week leading up to March 20.

Meanwhile, vaccination rates have remained high over the past week, with about 2.5 million shots administered each day for a total of 124 million doses administered since the rollout began in late December. Most seniors over the age of 65 have gotten at least one dose, with about 42% having been fully vaccinated, “and we’re seeing the benefit,” Walensky added.

“For the first time since last summer, the percent of those over 65 presenting to our emergency departments because of COVID-19 is lower than those aged 26 to 45,” she said.

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Cases across the European continent are surging once again, leading many leaders to reimpose some early pandemic restrictions. In France, a monthlong partial lockdown of about 21 million people across 16 regions, including Paris, went into effect on Friday. Schools will remain open, but nonessential businesses will remain shuttered.

Poland also embarked on a three-week lockdown starting on Saturday. Health officials blamed the 44% week-over-week increase in new cases on the highly contagious U.K. variant. Several EU member states, including Germany, are considering a national lockdown to prevent further spikes in cases. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to meet with the country’s 16 state governors on Monday to discuss whether to plunge the country into lockdown.

Original Location: CDC director warns of ‘avoidable surge’ in pandemic