Chris Christie tests positive for COVID-19

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced Saturday that he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

“I just received word that I am positive for COVID-19,” Christie wrote Saturday morning on Twitter. “I want to thank all of my friends and colleagues who have reached out to ask how I was feeling in the last day or two. I will be receiving medical attention today and will keep the necessary folks apprised of my condition.”

The news comes one day after President Donald Trump announced he and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19.

Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, and two of Trump’s aides, Hope Hicks and Kellyanne Conway, have also tested positive.

In the wake of Trump’s positive diagnosis, Christie said Friday that he tested negative for the virus on Tuesday after being around Trump during the first presidential debate. Christie said at the time that he had no symptoms and felt “fine.”

Christie was also in close contact with John Jenkins, the president of Notre Dame, during a Sept. 26 White House event in which Judge Amy Coney Barrett was officially announced as nominee for the Supreme Court. Jenkins announced Friday he had tested positive for the coronavirus.

In an interview Friday, Christie spoke about coronavirus precautions during debate preparation.

"No one was wearing masks in the room when we were prepping the president during that period of time,” he said. “And the group was about five or six people, in total.”

Christie said that debate preparations lasted from Saturday to Tuesday.

Trump’s prep team included Christie, Hicks, Conway, Rudy Giuliani, Jason Miller, Mark Meadows, Jared Kushner, Kayleigh McEnany and Alyssa Farah, The Associated Press reported.

In a video posted online Friday, Trump said that he and the first lady are doing well.

The president’s physician, Dr. Sean Conley, said Trump is undergoing an experimental treatment called Regeneron “as a precautionary measure."

During a news conference Friday, Conley said that Trump, who is spending the weekend at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to receive treatment for COVID-19, has been fever-free for 24 hours and is in “exceptionally good spirits.”

Conley said Trump’s symptoms, including a cough and nasal congestion “are now resolving and improving," the AP reported. He said the first lady has a “mild cough and headache.”

Cox Media Group