» A rise in infections could erase the gains made during the Biden presidency so far,

White House works to stem rising averages, keep protections intact.

For the first two months, all the coronavirus numbers broke in the Biden administration’s favor. More than 100 million Americans have gotten at least one shot of vaccine and more than 200 million doses have been sent to states. Virus-related cases and deaths, which peaked in January, have fallen by about two-thirds since President Joe Biden’s inauguration.

But the Biden White House is seeing new infections climb on its watch — a potential crisis that could erase many of the hard-won gains of the president’s first 75 days. And after railing for a year about the last administration’s response and vowing a more muscular strategy, Biden is encountering the limits of his own authority. He can help secure and distribute supplies and medicines, issue guidance and urge caution — but like Donald Trump before him, he has few tools when governors decide to lift coronavirus protections, manufacturers botch vaccine production or Americans refuse to wear masks or get vaccinated.

“We need you to spread the word,” Biden told faith leaders last week. “They’re going to listen to your words more than they are me as president of the United States.”

Biden also has no more sway than Trump over a mutating virus that scientists have only begun to understand. The Washington Post’s rolling seven-day national average of coronavirus cases is nearly 65,000 new cases per day, an 18% uptick since the middle of last month, even as many states drop public health restrictions and more transmissible and potentially lethal virus variants spread. More than 146,000 new cases were reported April 1-2, the highest two-day count in several weeks.

Most experts think a fourth surge is unlikely, but the trends have alarmed some public health experts, who are calling on Biden to adopt new strategies to speed up shots or take a harder line with states relaxing restrictions. On Tuesday, the president announced he was moving up the deadline for all adults to be eligible for vaccines to April 19.

“Let me be deadly earnest with you,” Biden said during the announcement. “We aren’t at the finish line. We still have a lot of work to do. We’re still in a life-and-death race against this virus.”