Daily US Times: After spending days in intensive care with Covid-19, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has urged Americans citizens to take coronavirus “seriously”.
On Thursday, the Trump administration ally revealed that he had recovered from the disease.
He was one of several coronavirus cases confirmed at the same time as President Trump in early October.
The infections have been linked to an event at the White House later dubbed as “superspreader event“. In that event, Mr Trump formally announced his nomination of the conservative Judge Amy Coney Barrett for a Supreme Court vacancy.
More than a dozen individuals have been traced to the White House Rose Garden event on 26 September, including the White House press secretary, President Trump’s former counsellor Kellyanne Conway and two senators. All appear to have recovered.
Mr Christie said he attended the event, believing he had “entered a safe zone”.
He said in a statement: “I was wrong. I was wrong to not wear a mask at the Amy Coney Barrett announcement and I was wrong not to wear a mask at my multiple debate prep sessions with the President and the rest of the team.”
Chris Christie is in a high-risk category for Covid-19 because of his weight and asthma, his statement says.
He said he hoped his experience would encourage Americans to follow virus guidelines “in public no matter where you are and wear a mask to protect yourself and others”.
By contrast, the US President left the Walter Reed hospital after three nights of treatment for Covid-19, urging Americans not to let the virus “dominate” them.
Mr Christie said: “It is something to take very seriously.” The virus has killed more than 217,000 people in the US to date.
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