(Bloomberg) -- Covid-19 cases are reaching new heights in Wisconsin just as President Donald Trump prepares to hold rallies in Green Bay and La Crosse this weekend, potentially exacerbating the spread and stoking debate on the ethics of campaigning during the pandemic.

Wisconsin’s rolling seven-day average of new cases hit a record 2,255 Tuesday, triple the rate a month ago, according to state data. The one-week average positivity rate -- the percentage of tests that come back positive for the first time -- reached a staggering 17%, another high.

Coronavirus hospitalizations are also rising statewide, with 98 people hospitalized with the virus in northeastern Wisconsin, where Green Bay is, about five times as many as a month ago.

The Midwest is getting slammed by the virus, including many places that had relatively limited outbreaks until now. On a per-capita basis, thinly populated North Dakota has seen the most concerning case numbers. But Wisconsin’s population centers in Milwaukee and Madison may be the real tinderboxes.

Although the region was a center of the pandemic months ago, the contours of its outbreak were much different then, including a significant share of cases in Michigan, led by heavily urban Detroit. Now, the Dakotas, Wisconsin and Iowa -- with about 3% of America’s population combined -- have almost 10% of its cases.

Trump used a debate Tuesday against Democratic nominee Joe Biden to brag about the size of his rallies, claiming there had been “no negative effect” and implying the risk was minimal when they were held outside. The La Crosse rally is scheduled to take place at the regional airport.

Biden, who has avoided large campaign events due to Covid-19, said Trump has been irresponsible for holding the events.

Elsewhere in the U.S., the National Football League has postponed a game after members of the Tennessee Titans tested positive for the virus, the league’s first delay due to the virus.

In New York City, positivity rates were starting to rise from relatively low levels. Some New Jersey schools are shifting to online learning after reporting cases of coronavirus, Governor Phil Murphy said. And in Miami-Dade County, the country’s fourth-largest school district agreed to start a staggered return to school next week, after facing pressure from Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.

Nationwide cases had been ebbing from a Sun Belt surge in July, but seem to have leveled off at around 40,000 cases a day.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.