Getty Ohio Governor Mike DeWine tested positive for coronavirus on August 6.
Ohio Governor Mike Dewine tested negative for coronavirus, the Associated Press reported, after testing positive earlier in the day on Thursday, August 6.
DeWine’s wife, Fran, also tested negatively, AP reported.
The Republican governor was tested in advance of President Donald Trump’s visit to the state, according to the statement, and was to quarantine for two weeks, although he reported being asymptomatic.
Trump was to visit Ohio Thursday to tour a Whirlpool manufacturing plant and hold a campaign fundraiser, local CBS affiliate WBNS 10 reported.
Here’s what you need to know:
DeWine Was Supposed to Greet the President on the Tarmac Before Trump Toured a Manufacturing Plant & Held a Campaign Fundraiser
Just departed for the Great State of Ohio!
Trump left for Cleveland, Ohio, around noontime on Thursday, according to a tweet from his account. Trump was expected to tour a Whirlpool manufacturing plant and publicly sign an executive order on prescription drugs before attending a campaign fundraiser, WBNS reported.
DeWine was to greet Trump on the tarmac upon his arrival and was tested beforehand, as is customary now with people who come into close contact with the president. The governor, 73, tested positive before heading to Cleveland to meet Trump, a spokesperson said. He had been expected to join Trump at the Whirlpool plant as well, but now has returned to his office in Columbus.
White House spokesman Judd Deere told CNBC in a statement, “The president wishes Governor DeWine a speedy and full recovery and commends the job he’s doing for the great state of Ohio.”
DeWine Had No Symptoms & Has Been Vocal About the Need for Ohioans to Wear Masks
GettyOhio Governir Mike DeWine tested positive for coronavirus on August 6.
Lieutenant Governor Jim Husted tested negative for the virus, the Associated Press reported.
DeWine has taken the coronavirus pandemic seriously, issuing a statewide mask order last week and issuing a travel warning for people coming into the state, CNBC reported. DeWine’s Twitter profile picture shows him wearing a mask as an example, as well.
Twitter/Mike DeWineOhio Governor Mike DeWine’s Twitter profile picture shows him wearing a protective mask.
Ohio currently has 96,305 positive cases of coronavirus and almost 3,600 deaths, according to the state Department of Health. In a tweet on July 24, DeWine called the pandemic a bipartisan issue and extolled mask-wearing.
“Slowing the spread of #COVID19 is a bipartisan issue for governors across the U.S.,” DeWine wrote. “[Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards] recently asked me why I wear a mask in #Ohio. The answer: To protect others and help Ohio’s economic recovery.”
DeWine has also said at news conferences that he has lost several friends to the virus and urged Ohioans to take it seriously, The AP reported.
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