Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Friday that the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Texas Division of Emergency Management surge in resources to support the COVID-19 response in Texas.

Resources include medical personnel, medical supplies, and personal protective equipment for the Panhandle and South Plains areas.

DSHS has deployed 171 medical personnel to these communities, and an additional 100 personnel will arrive by Sunday. DSHS has also deployed 100 IV pumps, 56 ventilators, and 25 oxygen concentrators to the region.

"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."

ABC News' Matthews Furhman contributed to this report.

The Czech Republic confirmed 9,721 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, its highest single-day rise yet.

The previous record of 9,544 new cases was set a day earlier, meaning it's the second straight day that the country has reported its highest increase in infections.

The cumulative total now stands at 149,010 cases with 1,230 deaths, according to the Czech health ministry. Almost 50,000 of those cases were registered last week.

More than 84,000 cases were active Friday, including 2,920 patients who remained hospitalized for COVID-19, while over 63,000 have recovered from the disease, according to the health ministry data.

The Czech Republic has the highest rate of COVID-19 infection in Europe. Over the past two weeks, the country of 10.7 million people has reported 701.9 cases per 100,000 population, according to data published Friday by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

The Czech government said hospitals could reach full capacity around the end of the month due to growing number of COVID-19 patients. Over the weekend, the Czech military will start building a field hospital in Prague that will be able to house 500 patients.

The number of new cases of COVID-19 recorded in the United States increased by double digits in week-over-week comparisons, while the number of deaths is also on the rise, according to an internal memo from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that was obtained by ABC News on Thursday night.

The memo, which is circulated among the highest levels of the federal government and is used to determine daily priorities for the agencies working on a COVID-19 response, said 38 U.S. states and territories are in an upward trajectory of new infections, while 8 jurisdictions are at a plateau and 10 others are in a downward trend.

There were 366,455 new cases confirmed during the period of Oct. 8-Oct. 14, a 16.4% increase from the previous week. There were also 4,893 fatalities from COVID-19 recorded during the same period, a 3.1% increase compared with the week prior, according to the memo.

The national positivity rate for COVID-19 tests dropped from 6% to 5% in week-to-week comparisons. Meanwhile, 24% of hospitals nationwide have more than 80% of beds full in their intensive care units. That figure was 17%-18% during the summertime peak, the memo said.

Arkansas saw its death toll from COVID-19 increase by 25% during the week ending Oct. 11. Case rates continue to rise in rural parts of the state, according to the memo.

A review of death certificates in Georgia revealed that while Black residents make up 30% of the state's population, they account for 48% of the 7,416 deaths from COVID-19 to date. Just over 82.4% of ICU beds and 81.3% of inpatient beds were occupied in Georgia during the period of Oct. 5-11, the memo said.

In Iowa, 7% of new cases are being reported in the 18-40 age group. COVID-19 hospitalizations across the state reached an all-time high on Oct. 7, with 449 reported admissions, according to the memo.

Kentucky broke its record for weekly case count on Oct. 1 for the third straight week, the memo said.

New Mexico saw its number of new cases increase 53.3% in the week ending Oct. 11, compared to the week prior. The Albuquerque area experienced a relative increase of 89.5% in new cases between Oct. 4 and Oct. 11, according to the memo.

ABC News' Josh Margolin contributed to this report.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie spoke exclusively to ABC News on Friday morning for the first time since he tested positive for COVID-19 and was released from the hospital.

"It hits you like a freight train." Christie told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview on "Good Morning America." "It all happened very, very quickly. Within 24 hours, I went from feeling absolutely fine to being in the intensive care unit."

Christie, who has asthma, spent seven days in the ICU while battling COVID-19. He said he received an antibody treatment in combination with the antiviral medication remdesivir early on in the course of his illness.

"The last two or three days, I've really kind of turned around in terms of being able to recover and getting a lot of my energy back," he said. "So I'm not yet 100%, but I'm about a fighting 80%."

Christie admitted he "was wrong" and "made a mistake" in not wearing a face mask while recently helping President Donald Trump prepare for the debate.

"I was led to believe that all the people that I was interacting with at the White House had been tested and it gave you a false sense of security, and it was a mistake," he said. "I was doing it right for seven months and avoided the virus. I let my guard down for a couple days inside the White House grounds and it cost me unfortunately in a significant way."

Christie urged the public to wear masks, saying, "there is no downside to you wearing masks and, in fact, there can be a great deal of upside."

"I think no matter what you're doing, whether you're at a rally for your preferred candidate, whether you're out at the supermarket, whether you're at a protest, no matter what you're doing, you should have a mask on and you should try to remain socially distant from folks," he said. "I did it for seven months, George, and I stayed healthy. I didn't do it for four days and I wound up in the ICU."

Germany confirmed 7,334 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, its highest single-day increase since the start of the pandemic.

It's the first time Germany has surpassed 7,000 COVID-19 cases in a single day, and it marks the second straight day that the country has broken its own record for the daily tallies.

An additional 24 deaths from COVID-19 were also registered Thursday. The cumulative totals now stands at 348,557 cases and 9,734 deaths, according to the latest data from the country’s public health institute.

Until this week, Germany’s highest recorded figure was nearly 6,300 cases on March 28, according to data published by the Robert Koch Institute. While testing has increased since then, the country is among several in Europe that have seen a sharp uptick in COVID-19 infections in recent weeks.

Earlier this week, Germany's federal and state governments agreed to toughen rules on wearing face masks and to have bars close early in areas where infections are high.