A rapid jump in COVID-19 cases in Illinois’ and Vermont’s metropolitan areas has led the regions to overtake New York’s top cities and suburbs as hot spots for the new BA.2 variant.

Topping the list for where the virus is most heavily concentrated in Champaign, Illinois, hoisting a seven-day rolling average of 62.6 cases per 100,000 people.

Next is Burlington, Vermont, with a seven-day average of 56.8 per 100,000. The area also has the highest COVID hospitalization admission rate in the country at 9.7 per 100,000.

Syracuse and Ithaca, New York, two cities that led the list of virus hot spots last week, bumped down to the bottom of the list on Monday, standing at 56.7 per 100,000 and 54.1 per 100,000, respectively.

Utica, New York, stayed in the top five as well, standing at 56.5 cases per 100,000 people.

The BA.2 variant is responsible for 3 in 4 COVID-19 cases in the U.S., with the subvariant BA.2.12.1 accounting for a fifth of the cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The news comes amid a federal judge in Florida striking down mask requirement on airplanes, trains, buses and other public transportation on Monday, less than a week after the CDC extended the mandate through May 3, The New York Times reported.

”If Congress intended this definition, the power bestowed on the CDC would be breathtaking,” Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle wrote in a 59-page decision. ”And it certainly would not be limited to modest measures of ‘sanitation’ like masks.”