As coronavirus cases continue to soar with over 150,000 infections daily in the U.S., experts blame small, casual gatherings for contributing to the rise.

In the first stages of the pandemic, health officials saw COVID-19 cases linked to nursing homes and public crowds. But now it appears that people hungry for social interaction are driving up the numbers. Activities such as casual dinner parties, sleepovers, game nights, and carpools are responsible for the record-breaking surge.

According to The Washington Post, the White House coronavirus task force has asked states to help regulate maskless gatherings that “cause ongoing transmission, frequently infecting multiple people in a single gathering.” The task force also asks people to adhere to social distancing measures and other preventive procedures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

City officials have stepped in to help contain the upward spiral of COVID-19 transmission. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a 30-day stay-at-home advisory starting Monday.  Lightfoot’s advisory urged Chicagoans to “stop having guests over — including family members you don’t live with. Cancel traditional Thanksgiving plans.”

According to the Post, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a 10-person limit on gatherings in private homes. Other states have followed suit.

“Earlier in the outbreak, much of the growth in new daily cases was being driving by focal outbreaks — long-term care facilities, things of the nature,” said Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine CDC. “Now the kitchen table is a place of risk.”

Dr. David Rubin, a primary care physician and director of Population Health Innovation at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, explained in a recent blog that small indoor get-togethers create “perfect conditions for a virus that can spread among people in a poorly ventilated space.” He added that respiratory viruses are more stable in dry, colder air which increases the risk of transmission at any gathering.

“Often, they’re with people we know really well,” said Rubin, according to the Post. “We let our guard down.”