Ohio Governor Tests Positive For COVID-19 Day Of Trump Meeting

Gov. Mike DeWine, who said he shows no symptoms of COVID-19, tested positive hours before he was scheduled to meet the president.

Republican Gubernatorial-elect Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine gives his victory speech after winning the Ohio gubernatorial race at the Ohio Republican Party's election night party at the Sheraton Capitol Square on November 6, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. | Getty Images
Republican Gubernatorial-elect Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine gives his victory speech after winning the Ohio gubernatorial race at the Ohio Republican Party's election night party at the Sheraton Capitol Square on November 6, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. | Getty Images

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday ahead of his planned meeting with President Trump in Cleveland. The Republican governor said in a statement that he shows no symptoms of the virus and will return to Columbus and quarantine for 14 days at home in Cedarville. 

The test result was announced around noon local time as Trump took off on Air Force One from the Washington area en route for the airport in Cleveland. The test was part of “standard protocol to greet” the president, DeWine said. 

Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted tested negative, DeWine’s statement said.

DeWine appeared in a video later Thursday and said, "I feel fine. I have a headache... but besides that, I feel well.

Trump is expected to deliver remarks on economic prosperity Thursday afternoon in Cleveland and tour the Whirlpool Corp. manufacturing plant in Clyde, Ohio.

Most facilities in the state have reopened with certain restrictions, and the governor has mandated a public mask policy since July 23. Ohio currently has more than 96,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 including more than 3,500 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.

DeWine is the second U.S. governor known to have tested positive for coronavirus.

Last month, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) confirmed that he has tested positive for COVID-19 weeks after attending President Trump’s Tulsa campaign rally without wearing a mask. Stitt became the first U.S. governor to report a positive test.