Gov. DeWine Negative For Virus After Initially Testing Positive

COLUMBUS, OH — Gov. Mike DeWine took to Twitter on Thursday night to say he does not have COVID-19, despite testing positive for the disease in the day.

DeWine said he took a second COVID test in Columbus, which came back negative.

DeWine, 73, was scheduled to meet President Donald Trump on the tarmac at Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland on Thursday. Prior to the event, DeWine was required to take a COVID-19 test, which came back positive. His plans to travel with Trump were then canceled.

According to a report by The Washington Post, the governor's initial screening in Cleveland was an antigen test. The test he took later in the day was done via the polymerase chain reaction method, which is used more commonly than the screening required before having contact with Trump.

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted also took a COVID-19 test on Thursday and tested negative. He did take part in Trump's visit to Ohio. Patch has a recap of the president's visit to the Buckeye State.

The Ohio Democratic Party’s chairman, who has praised DeWine’s pandemic response while sharply criticizing Trump’s, reacted to DeWine's first test. He called the news saddening and said the governor’s fellow Ohioans would support DeWine and his family.

Not all Ohio politicians rallied around DeWine, however. State Rep. Nino Vitale used the opportunity to again question the efficacy of masks.

"While I certainly wish no ill will nor poor health on the governor, I think the question must be asked. Has he not been wearing his mask, or do masks not stop the spread?" Vitale asked his followers.

In July, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt became the first governor in the U.S. to test positive for COVID-19.

DeWine would have been the second governor to contract the virus.

Franklin County, home of the Ohio Statehouse, has the fourth highest rate of COVID-19 spread among Ohio's 88 counties, the state health department reported this week. Cuyahoga County, where DeWine was traveling to greet Trump, has the 12th highest rate of COVID-19 spread in the state.

In mid-July, a Republican staffer at the Ohio Statehouse tested positive for COVID-19. State Rep. Kent Smith told Patch he and his staff were not tested for the virus following the confirmed case.

"There's not enough testing [at the Ohio Statehouse]," Smith said.

DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted have been holding bi-weekly news conferences at the Ohio Statehouse.

A spokesperson for Gov. Mike DeWine did not immediately respond to Patch's request for additional information.

Patch is updating this breaking news story with the latest

Reporting from the Associated Press was used in this report