Former New Jersey governor and Donald Trump debate prepper Chris Christie was released from Morristown Medical Center on Saturday morning, after being hospitalized for a week. In a brief statement, Christie thanked doctors and nurses and said he would have “more to say” later.
Christie reported that he had tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 3, two days after Trump announced his own positive result. Like Trump, Christie was admitted into the hospital within hours of reporting positive. This is highly unusual because most people who begin displaying symptoms of COVID-19 don’t become seriously ill for a week or more. Christie also reported that he was having “mild symptoms” at the time of his admission, which makes the idea that he was admitted to the hospital at all seem questionable. The timing of illness for both Trump and Christie suggests that members of Trump’s team were ill several days earlier than anyone has admitted.
During his hospitalization, both Christie and his doctors have been mostly silent about his condition and treatment. However, it is known that he received treatment with pricey antiviral drug Remdesivir, which the FDA has made available through an emergency use authorization. It’s unclear if Christie also received other experimental treatments given to Trump.
In addition to being overweight, the former Garden State governor also suffers from asthma. Both of these conditions are known to be associated with increased chances of a bad outcome from COVID-19 infection. Christie’s release at this point should not be taken as an “all clear” signal, as most patients face the most critical point of infection seven to 10 days following onset of symptoms.
Christie is one of 38 people now connected to the White House super-cluster of COVID-19 cases. Many of those cases can apparently be traced to the Rose Garden superspreader event where Trump introduced his hastily selected nominee for the Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett. Christie was at that event, without a mask, and was photographed in close contact with others, ignoring social distancing guidelines. Christies was also involved in Trump’s debate prep, which seems to be the point of infection for several others, including Hope Hicks.