# Chris Christie: ‘I was wrong’ not to wear face mask at White House

“I believed when I entered the White House grounds, that I had entered a safe zone, due to the testing that I and many others underwent every day,” he said in a statement to the Times. “I was wrong. 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.”

The ceremony for Barrett is believed to be a superspreader event, with at least 12 attendees, including President Donald Trump, later testing positive for COVID-19.

Christie said he ended up spending seven days hospitalized in intensive care. He told the Times he has mostly recovered, but still suffers fatigue.

“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,” he said. “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.”

That clashes with repeated comments by Trump, who has downplayed the need to wear masks and said after leaving the hospital earlier this month — after recovering from coronavirus himself — “Don’t be afraid of COVID. Don’t let it dominate your life.” He has also repeatedly claimed the virus will eventually just “disappear,” which heath experts say is not true.