OMAHA, Neb. — The number of COVID-19 cases reported in Nebraska jumped last week, but the rate of new cases remained below the national average.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that the state recorded 456 virus cases last week, which was up from 253 and 181 in the two previous weeks, according to data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The state’s rate of new cases per capita remains slightly below the national average and it ranked 23rd among the states last week.

Dr. James Lawler with the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Global Center for Health Security said the increase in cases isn’t a surprise given the presence of the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus and the number of people in the state who haven’t gotten vaccinated.

“Clearly, if we could get more people vaccinated, we would be in a different situation, as all of these hospitalizations, all of these deaths, are now preventable,” Lawler said.

According to CDC data, 65.3% of Nebraska’s population over the age of 18 has received at least one dose of a vaccine.

The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Nebraska has increased over the past two weeks from 30.71 new cases per day on June 21 to 46.33 new cases per day on Monday.

The state has added only four COVID-19 deaths in the past three weeks.