Coronavirus updates: Chris Christie speaks out after contracting COVID-19
The former New Jersey governor spoke to ABC News exclusively.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 1 million people worldwide.
Over 38.9 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The criteria for diagnosis -- through clinical means or a lab test -- has varied from country-to-country. Still, the actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some national governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their outbreaks.
Since the first cases were detected in China in December, the virus has rapidly spread to every continent except Antarctica.
The United States is the worst-affected country, with more than 7.9 million diagnosed cases and at least 217,700 deaths.
California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 868,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 837,000 cases and over 744,000 cases, respectively.
More than 190 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are being tracked by the World Health Organization, at least 10 of which are in crucial phase three studies. Of those 10 potential vaccines in late-stage trials, there are currently five that will be available in the United States if approved.
Latest headlines:
US passes 8 million cases
There are currently 8,008,042 COVID-19 cases and 218,097 deaths in the United States.
Denver limits social gathering to 5 people
In reaction to a growing positivity rate, Denver health officials are reducing the social gathering limit from 10 to five people. Additionally, people must wear their face mask when outside and walking with others from outside their household.
The new restrictions are only for Denver County and not the rest of the state.
As of Friday, Colorado has 81,895 COVID-19 cases and 2,162 deaths, as per John Hopkins University data. Denver has 15,383 confirmed cases, and has had 440 deaths.
New England Patriots cancel practice after positive COVID-19 test
The Patriots are canceling their Friday practice after a positive COVID-19 test, per a source. There is also a second test they are awaiting to confirm is a positive, ESPN reported.
Indianapolis Colts open for practice after 4 players re-test negative
The Indianapolis Colts will reopen their practice facility Friday after four individuals' re-tests for COVID-19 confirmed they were negative, the team announced.
The team closed their facility Friday morning after initial positive tests. They involved one player and three staff members, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Indianapolis is scheduled to have a home game Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.
"After consultation with the NFL and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Allen Sills, the team will open the practice facility this afternoon under the league's intensive protocol and will continue preparation for Sunday's game against Cincinnati," the team's statement said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. ABC News' Joshua Hoyos contributed to this report.
After contracting COVID-19, Chris Christie admits he 'made a mistake' not wearing a mask
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie spoke exclusively to ABC News on Friday morning for the first time since he tested positive for COVID-19 and was released from the hospital.
"It hits you like a freight train." Christie told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview on "Good Morning America." "It all happened very, very quickly. Within 24 hours, I went from feeling absolutely fine to being in the intensive care unit."
Christie, who has asthma, spent seven days in the ICU while battling COVID-19. He said he received an antibody treatment in combination with the antiviral medication remdesivir early on in the course of his illness.
"The last two or three days, I've really kind of turned around in terms of being able to recover and getting a lot of my energy back," he said. "So I'm not yet 100%, but I'm about a fighting 80%."
Christie admitted he "was wrong" and "made a mistake" in not wearing a face mask while recently helping President Donald Trump prepare for the debate.
"I was led to believe that all the people that I was interacting with at the White House had been tested and it gave you a false sense of security, and it was a mistake," he said. "I was doing it right for seven months and avoided the virus. I let my guard down for a couple days inside the White House grounds and it cost me unfortunately in a significant way."
Christie urged the public to wear masks, saying, "there is no downside to you wearing masks and, in fact, there can be a great deal of upside."
"I think no matter what you're doing, whether you're at a rally for your preferred candidate, whether you're out at the supermarket, whether you're at a protest, no matter what you're doing, you should have a mask on and you should try to remain socially distant from folks," he said. "I did it for seven months, George, and I stayed healthy. I didn't do it for four days and I wound up in the ICU."
