Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he learned a vital lesson while he lay in the ICU battling COVID-19 last month — wear a mask.
In a video posted to Twitter on Wednesday, Christie called on people to wear facial coverings to protect from the spread of the virus. The former governor struggled with a bout of COVID-19 following his attendance at the ceremony for Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
“Lying in isolation in ICU for seven days, I thought about how wrong I was to remove my mask at the White House,” Christie said before calling on others to “do the right thing” and wear masks.
I am very happy today for this ad to start to run on TV across America. I urge all Americans to learn from my experience and to, please, wear a mask and stay safe. pic.twitter.com/DGmOValDJo
— Governor Christie (@GovChristie) December 16, 2020
Christie said people are “likely” to be infected with the highly contagious disease if they refuse to adopt a policy that he himself failed to follow.
Christie’s visit to the ICU followed multiple debate preps with President Trump, where neither wore masks while in close contact.
“I was wrong not to 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,” Christie said.
Christie described the disease as “frightening” and said it was “the most unpredictable and random virus” he’d ever been infected with.
According to the New York Times coronavirus tracker, nearly 3,000 people died from complications arising from COVID-19 on Wednesday as the disease continues to spread at breakneck speed through the U.S. population. COVID-19 has infected over 16 million people in the country and has killed over 300,000.
