As COVID-19 cases in the Amarillo area grow Governor Greg Abbott is taking notice. With Amarillo going back to a CODE RED status and Friday October 16- seeing 109 new cases in Potter County and 103 in Randall County with 8 deaths, Amarillo is not out of the woods. The area returned to the Red COVID-19 Stress Status after the Area Hospitalization Rate reached over 12%

Getty Images
Getty Images
loading...

The Texas Department of State Health Services and the Texas Division of Emergency Management have surged medical personnel, supplies, and personal protective equipment (PPE) to the Panhandle area in order to assist hospitals with their COVID-19 response.

Getty Images
Getty Images
loading...

“As the Amarillo and Lubbock communities see a rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations, the State of Texas is providing support to hospitals throughout these two regions,” said Governor Abbott. “The additional medical personnel, supplies, and PPE surged to the Panhandle and South Plains will help these communities care for patients and contain the spread of this virus.”

Getty Images
Getty Images
loading...

Nationally on Thursday, new confirmed cases climbed over the 65,000 mark,  a total the country hasn’t seen since the end of July. Additionally, cases are rising in more than 45 states, according to a New York Times tracking tool on their website.

Texas-Average of 4,587 cases per day is an increase of 8 percent from the average two weeks earlier.

The U.S. leads the world with 7.9 million coronavirus cases and some 217,000 confirmed deaths. Globally, there have been 39 million reported cases and 1.09 million confirmed deaths.

If you don’t want to wear a mask and take social distancing precautions, the CDC recommends you stay home.

More From 98.7 The Bomb