people have just generally had enough of this sort of government overreach. reporter: and yet not everyone agrees. we definitely do not want any type of shutdowns, so that s why it s important to stick to the mandates. reporter: philadelphia health officials reporting a 50% increase in new covid-19 cases in just ten days. 31 states and territories across the country are seeing a similar upward trend. but hospitalizations so far remaining low, creeping up only 2.7% since last week, even as more contagious versions of the ba.2 variant fuel new infections. those sublineages, called ba.2.12 and ba.2.12.1, could be 25% more contagious than the original ba.2. what we need to be doing is monitoring this very carefully. i don t expect a surge like we saw in january. i think that is extremely unlikely. reporter: houses of worship packed this weekend for the first time in two years as people celebrate easter, ramadan, and passover.