Former NJ Governor Chris Christie Calls for All Public Officials to Advocate for Face Covers and Social Distancing

by Carolyne Volpe Curley / Carolyne@WestEssexNOW.com
Published 8:20am

White House Amy Coney Barrett announcement, Good Morning America IMAGE: ABC News

Former NJ Governor Chris Christie Calls for All Public Officials to Advocate for Face Covers and Social Distancing

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie issued a statement yesterday evening which expressed his beliefs that, given the proper face cover and social-distancing mandates by all political leaders, Americans will use common sense and work together to reopen the country and fight back against the Covid-19 infection. 

Christie released the statement following his seven days spent in the Intensive Care Unit at Morristown Memorial Hospital due to the Covid-19 infection he was exposed to at the White House.

In his statement, Christie:

• Thanked his medical staff
• Expressed gratitude for his ability to be treated with the still experimental Remdesivir and the recently paused Eli Lilly monoclonal anti-body cocktail 
• ​He was wrong not to wear a face cover during his time spent at the White House during debate prep sessions and the Sept. 26 Amy Coney Barrett announcement, now considered an infection super-spreader
• Called for all to follow CDC guidelines and to wear a face cover 
• Covid-19 is something to take very seriously as it is "wildly random" and can prove fatal for anyone
• No one should be happy to get the virus, referring to President Trump who was infected at the same time, and no one should be "cavalier about being infected or infecting others"
• Americans need to be given full information about the Covid-19 pandemic and trust their common sense
• Those who believe there is "nothing to the virus" are wrong and will bring additional illness and death to the country
• Those who believe the country needs to close down are wrong and will bring additional economic, educational and mental loss to the country
• Every public official should advocate for everyone to wear face covers in public, socially distance, wash hands frequently
• America needs to reopen with face cover, social distancing mandates​

Governor Chris Christie's full statement:

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Oct. 15, 2020

I am happy and fortunate to inform you that I have recovered from COVID-19. Before this good news, however, I spent 7 days in the Intensive Care Unit of Morristown Medical Center to get treatment and insure this good result for me and my family.

I want to thank the doctors and nurses for their skillful and compassionate care. I want to thank the manufacturers of Remdesivir and the Eli Lilly monoclonal anti-body cocktail for giving me access to their extraordinary treatments. I am confident that all of those factors contributed to my good health today.

When you have seven days in isolation in an ICU though, you have time to do a lot of thinking. I did and have come to the following conclusions:
​

• I believed that when I entered the White House grounds, that I had entered a safe zone, due to the testing that and I and many others underwent every day. 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. I hope that my experience shows my fellow citizens that you should follow CDC guidelines in public no matter where you are and wear a mask to protect yourself and others.
  
  
• Having had this virus, I can also assure those who have not had it of a few things. It is something to take very seriously. The ramifications are wildly random and potentially deadly. No one should be happy to get the virus and no one should be cavalier about being infected or infecting others.
  ​
• But as a former public official, I believe we have not treated Americans as adults, who understand truth, sacrifice and responsibility that I know them to be. I have also concluded that like much else in 2020, that the virus is governed by our two dominant political and media extremes: those who believe there is nothing to this virus, and those alarmists who would continue to close down our country and not trust the common sense of the American people. ​Both are wrong. This is not an either/or proposition. The public health consequences of ignoring the virus and the responsible safeguards that we need to take will be additional illness and death caused by COVID-19. The public policy consequences of continuing to shut down or re-shut down our country will be further economic devastation to families, even more loss of education by our students and the continuing loss of life through the drug abuse, suicide and depression caused by taking away people’s ability to support their families. There is another way.
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• Every public official, regardless of party or position, should advocate for every American to wear a mask in public, appropriately socially distance and to wash your hands frequently every day. At the same time, we should be reopening in every corner of this nation under these guidelines. Reopen all those places which have taken the brunt of these shutdowns and allow our country to get back to a life where citizens can support their families using common sense. Even during a contentious election year, we must trust the American people with the truth. I believe that these two steps can bring our country together while our pharmaceutical companies invent the therapeutics and vaccines which will rid us of this virus.
  ​

While we may seem very divided today, I do believe we can use this public health tragedy to bring us together. It is never too late to start. It will take leadership that both challenges and trusts the American people. After all, we are America, the world’s greatest hope.

Further Reading: 

• New Jersey ​Covid-19 Case Report On Children And Young Adults
  
• Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome Cases In New Jersey Children And Adolescents
  
• New Jersey Coronavirus Covid-19 Updates October, 2020
• Essex County, NJ, Coronavirus Covid-19 Updates October, 2020