The troubling surge in COVID-19 cases nationwide continued over the weekend, with the country nearly having back-to-back record daily infection rates on Friday and Saturday.

Local infectious disease experts say now is the time to be extra careful by continuing to wear masks, maintaining social distancing and limiting group get-togethers as the holiday season nears.

"The concern is going to be that asymptomatic individuals who are not sick or not yet sick who are carrying the virus will come into households through gatherings and unwittingly spread the virus to others," says NYU Winthrop Department of Medicine Chairman Dr. Bruce Polsky.

The concern comes after more than a dozen states saw record highs over the weekend for the number of daily COVID-19 cases. In New York, while stats show hospitalizations did increase over the weekend, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that the state positivity rate is 1.45% That figure includes hot spots in Brooklyn, Queens and the Hudson Valley.

Cuomo says hot spot figures have fallen, showing compliance, enforcement and the micro-cluster strategy the state is using is working.

"What is the micro-cluster? You see a spread, you run, you attack it and you keep putting out these flames," says Cuomo. "It is COVID whack-a-mole. One pops up, bang, one pops up, bang ... you have to be quick. Government has to be competent. Government has to be effective. But it is a way of controlling the spread and slowing the spread to get you through the vaccination. And save lives."

Cuomo has said he's worried about increasing numbers in other states, especially those closest to New York.