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Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio Tests Positive for Coronavirus Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio Tests Positive for Coronavirus
(about 2 hours later)
Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio has tested positive for the coronavirus, his office said in a statement on Thursday, making him the second governor in the nation known to have received a positive test result. Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio, a Republican whose early and aggressive response to the coronavirus has won him praise from health experts and rebukes from within his party, tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday ahead of a visit with President Trump.
Mr. DeWine, a Republican who has stood out in his party and among the nation’s governors for his decisive response to the virus, was tested as part of a standard protocol because he was scheduled to greet President Trump on the tarmac of Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland on Thursday. Mr. DeWine, 73, was tested as part of a standard protocol in preparation for Mr. Trump’s visit to Ohio on Thursday.
Mr. DeWine did not meet with the president, who is expected to speak about the economy and visit a Whirlpool factory during a visit to Ohio on Thursday afternoon. Mr. DeWine, who was scheduled to greet President Trump on the tarmac of Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, did not meet with the president and instead headed back to Columbus, the state capital, for a secondary test.
Mr. DeWine was not experiencing symptoms, his office said, and he was returning to Columbus, where he will be tested again. He plans to quarantine in his home for the next 14 days. “A very good friend of mine just tested positive,” Mr. Trump said from a podium in front of Marine One in Cleveland, before departing to visit a Whirlpool factory in Clyde, Ohio, on Thursday afternoon. He praised Mr. DeWine as a “great governor.”
The positive test result comes after months of warnings from Mr. DeWine, who was the first governor in the country to shut down schools in March. He also issued an early stay-at-home order and intensified his message as cases rose in Ohio through June and July. “We want to wish him the best,” Mr. Trump said. “He’ll be fine.”
In a televised address in mid-July, he warned Ohioans that “the enemy is here.” As recently as this week, he shared a series of examples of how the virus was spreading at church services, weddings, and other family gatherings and urged residents to stay home. Mr. DeWine was not experiencing symptoms, his office said, and was returning to Columbus, where he and his wife, Fran, will both be tested. He plans to quarantine in his home for the next 14 days.
“Just because it’s your family, just because it’s your friends, they could still be carrying the virus,” Mr. DeWine said. Mr. DeWine’s positive test result reflects the growing threat the coronavirus poses throughout Ohio and the Midwest, where the virus is spreading largely unchecked in many states this summer. Ohio is now averaging about 1,200 cases a day, more than the state’s earlier peak in April.
Mr. DeWine is the second governor in the nation known to have tested positive for the virus. Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, a Republican, received a positive test result last month. It is also the latest reminder of a point Mr. DeWine had made himself this week: the virus can spread quietly and widely, reaching even those who take the threat most seriously.
Mr. DeWine has stood out in his party and among the nation’s governors for his warnings against the virus. He was the first governor in the country to shut down schools and issued an early stay-at-home order in March. He wakes up each morning to a fresh PowerPoint presentation from his staff, which he reads on his iPad before 8 a.m.
As cases intensified this summer, he issued a solemn televised address last month, quoting Ronald Reagan and the Bible as he warned residents to stay at home and wear masks. “Don’t we all want to be around to meet our future children, our future grandchildren?” he said. “To attend their baptism, to watch our kids and grandkids graduate from school?”
He later issued a statewide mask order, and announced this week that Ohio would be part of a bipartisan group of states that will work together to buy millions of antigen tests, with the hope of getting back test results more quickly.
A mild-mannered career politician, Mr. DeWine’s decades in public office — as a county prosecutor, state senator, congressman, lieutenant governor, U.S. senator and state attorney general — unfolded largely out of the national spotlight, until the pandemic turned him into something of a social media sensation this spring.
His daily 2 p.m. press briefings, where he took on a professorial air, speaking alongside graphs and charts, while wearing round glasses and colorful ties representing Ohio universities, spawned a fan club among many Ohioans. Known as “Wine With DeWine,” the briefings inspired T-shirts and wine glasses with the motto “It’s 2 o’clock somewhere.”
Updated August 6, 2020
But his approach also drew uproar from protesters who gathered outside the State Capitol and from members of his own party. Amid the stay-at-home order and business closures, Republicans accused his administration of “micromanaging” residents and pumping up coronavirus statistics to scare Ohioans.
On Thursday, a Republican state representative, Nino Vitale, used the moment to question the governor’s policies. “I thought masks worked?” he posted on Facebook, alongside a photo of Mr. DeWine wearing a face covering.
Since Ohio began a phased reopening in May, new cases ticked steeply upward, before leveling off somewhat in recent days. Ohio reported about 1,200 new cases on Wednesday. Deaths, considered a lagging indicator, remain relatively low, with about 25 new deaths reported each day.
The Ohio lieutenant governor, Jon Husted, was also tested for the virus on Thursday and received a negative result.
Mr. DeWine is the second governor in the nation known to have tested positive for the virus. Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, a Republican, received a positive test result last month. Mr. Stitt, who said he did not experience a fever or cough, isolated at home before returning to the State Capitol.
Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.