COLUMBUS — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced late Friday afternoon that he had been diagnosed with the coronavirus by his personal doctor.
The 75-year-old Republican had been experiencing mild symptoms including a runny nose, headache, body aches, and a sore throat, his office said. He received a monoclonal antibody treatment for the virus Friday evening and, to follow protocol from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is in quarantine, the statement said.
First Lady Fran DeWine has experienced no symptoms and tested negative for the virus. Both she and the governor are fully vaccinated with two primary doses and a booster shot, Mr. DeWine’s office said.
Governor DeWine had previously tested positive for the illness on Aug. 6, 2020, when he took a rapid antigen test as a precursor to meeting with President Trump in Cleveland. He did not show any symptoms at that time and three hours later, upon his return to Columbus, he tested negative twice using PCR tests, a more accurate test that requires processing by a laboratory.
The Ohio Department of Health, in its now-weekly update, said Thursday that 4,808 new coronavirus cases had been reported in the state during the previous week, which was above the three-week rolling average of 3,915 and brought Ohio’s pandemic-long infection total to 2,681, 437.
State officials also reported 317 new hospitalizations and 100 new deaths, the latter pushing Ohio’s coronavirus death toll to 38,266.
Wood County, the health department said Thursday, had Ohio’s fifth-highest case rate during the two-week period that ended Wednesday; its 109 cases represented 83.3 cases per 100,000 in population. Lucas County was in the middle of the pack — 37th out of 88 counties — at 44.6 cases per 100,000, based on is 191 active cases during that period. The statewide average was 56.6 cases per 100,000 population.
Compared to other Republican-led states, Governor DeWine and his administration were relatively aggressive about coronavirus safety precautions and restrictions during the pandemic’s height in 2020 and 2021, which drew criticism from many in his party who said the state’s policies unduly impinged on personal freedoms and harmed businesses.
DeWine's diagnosis comes just 18 days before Ohio's May 3 primary, in which he faces two Republican challengers, and just eight days before former President Donald Trump plans an Ohio rally.
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