Chris Christie released from hospital after seven days of coronavirus treatment

Former governor says he will have ‘more to say about all of this’ next week

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was among several within President Donald Trump's orbit who recently contracted Covid-19. (Getty Images)

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has been released from the Morristown Medical Center where he had been staying after contracting Covid-19.

The former governor thanked the “extraordinary doctors [and] nurses” who cared for him at the medical center during his recovery from the novel virus, responsible for more than 210,000 deaths nationwide this year.

“Thanks to my familly [and] friends for their prayers,” Mr Christie said in a statement on Saturday.

In a tweet, the former governor also said he will have “more to say about all of this” next week. 

Mr Christie announced 3 October that he had tested positive and said hours later that he had checked himself into the hospital after deciding with his doctors that doing so would be "an important precautionary measure" given his history of asthma.

He was part of a string of virus cases connected to President Donald Trump's inner circle. 

In addition to Mr Trump and first lady Melania Trump, multiple people who had traveled with the president or attended events with him recently also contracted the virus.

Mr Trump's former 2016 rival told the Associated Press on 2 October that the last time he was with the president was 29 September in Cleveland during preparations for his debate with former Vice President Joe Biden. 

He tweeted the morning of 2 October that he had last tested negative ahead of that first presidential debate and was not having any symptoms then.

In 2013, during Mr Christie's first term as New Jersey governor, he underwent lap-band surgery and lost a significant amount of weight. 

Two years before that, he was hospitalized for difficulty breathing. The 58-year-old, who uses an inhaler, once called himself “the healthiest fat guy you've ever seen”.

The Associated Press contributed to this report