COLUMBUS, Ohio _ A more sensitive coronavirus test has determined that Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine does not have COVID-19, his office announced Thursday night.
A rapid-test before DeWine was scheduled to greet President Donald Trump in Cleveland determined he was positive for the virus. A second test administered later in Columbus produced a different result.
"The PCR tests for the Governor, First Lady, and staff were run two times. They came back negative the first time and came back negative when they were run on a second diagnostic platform," DeWine's office said.
"We feel confident in the results from (Ohio State University) Wexner Medical Center. This is the same PCR test that has been used over 1.6 million times in Ohio by hospitals and labs all over the state," his office said.
DeWine and his wife plan to have another PCR _ polymerise chain reaction _ test on Saturday to confirm Thursday evening's results.
"The PCR test looks for the specific RNA for the SARS CoV-2 _ in other words, the genetic material specific for the virus that causes COVID-19. This test is known to be extremely sensitive, as well as specific, for the virus," the governor's office news release said.
DeWine received an antigen test in Cleveland, with the positive test result making headlines on national TV news broadcasts and in publications across the nation.
"These tests represent an exciting new technology to reduce the cost and improve the turnaround time for COVID-19 testing, but they are quite new, and we do not have much experience with them here in Ohio. We will be working with the manufacturer to have a better understanding of how the discrepancy between these two tests could have occurred," his office said.
After the positive rapid test in Cleveland, DeWine said he did not feel ill.
"It's a big surprise," the governor said in a live online video chat with reporters from the front porch of his home near Cedarville late Thursday afternoon. "We are very, very careful with who we see."
"I called Fran and headed back and stopped in Columbus and some of the people who work very closely with me were tested," DeWine said, adding second test results were being awaited.
"I feel fine. Have a headache, but I get a lot of headaches throughout my life, so a headache is not anything unusual," DeWine said.
"I had no symptoms, no indication that I had COVID-19," he said.
DeWine repeated his mantra of wearing a mask, saying it "improves your odds" of not spreading the virus. He was only tested once for coronavirus before Thursday, testing negative.
Asked about apparently contracting the virus while wearing a mask, before the second test results were in, DeWine said, "I already got a few not very nice texts from people about that. 'We told you this was all fake and we told you wearing a mask doesn't matter.' Look, we know it does.
"If people take that lesson from the fact that I apparently have it, that would be the wrong lesson. That would be very, very sad and upset me quite a bit."
Public health experts advise the wearing of masks because they help limit the ejection of breath-borne virus particles, which can potentially infect others, by people with early or no symptoms. Masks do not generally protect a person from inhaling particles and catching the virus.
DeWine tested positive for COVID-19 earlier Thursday as part of the rapid antigen testing protocol required to greet Trump when he arrived in Cleveland for a visit to Ohio.
DeWine said he typically works from his historic farm house in Greene County, where he has lived since 1974, and anticipated no difficulties in continuing to lead state government and its response to the coronavirus by working remotely.
But, even with a negative test, it does not mark a big change in DeWine's routine. He often works remotely from home, seldom dealing with staff members in person and traveling to Columbus only for his televised virus briefings.
The 73-year-old DeWine, who has a history of asthma problems that caused him to be hospitalized twice within a week in 2000 while in the U.S. Senate, had shown no symptoms of the respiratory-centered disease, his office said.
DeWine said Thursday he has had asthma since he was a teenager and "it is under control." He said he uses a medicinal inhaler in the morning and evening. "I feel good ... I have a lot of energy."
The governor said he remains committed to battling the pandemic in Ohio and had hoped to talk with Trump about pooling, which Ohio is doing with other states, to obtain needed testing supplies and accelerate tests. "We need them quicker and we need more of them," he said.
The first-term Republican returned to Columbus, where he and first lady Fran DeWine, who did not travel to Cleveland and also has no symptoms, were tested with others, his office said.
Lt. Gov. Jon Husted also took the rapid COVID-19 test to be cleared to greet Trump and tested negative.
Upon his arrival in Cleveland later on Thursday afternoon, Trump said: "A very good friend of mine just tested positive. Do you know that? Our great governor. Governor of Ohio DeWine just tested positive. Just here. We want to wish him the best. He'll be fine. I guess he's going for a secondary test. I just said 'I look forward to seeing the governor.' They said, 'Sir, he just tested positive.' But he's a great guy. He's done a fantastic job."
Members of DeWine's State Highway Patrol security detail, a constant in the governor's circle, are being tested and will be quarantined until test results are received, said Sgt. Nathan Dennis, patrol spokesman.
The news of DeWine's first positive test brought both well wishes for recovery and derision from some Ohioans, politicians and detractors.
Trump visited Ohio to tour the Whirlpool washing machine factory in Clyde in Sandusky County and then attend a fundraiser in the Cleveland area. Husted and U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, joined the Republican president for his tour and remarks.
DeWine had postponed his typical Thursday virus briefing to Ohioans to Friday afternoon because he was scheduled to greet Trump at Burke Lakefront Airport.
The governor said Thursday he plans to continue to participate in the briefings remotely, including on Friday.
Husted and new GOP House Speaker Bob Cupp, who apparently also tested negative, were among those who welcomed Trump on the tarmac adjacent to Lake Erie.
DeWine, the first lady and Husted were administered a coronavirus test during one of his briefings on June 23. All tested negative.
DeWine took aggressive action early on in the pandemic that began March 9 in Ohio, closing non-essential businesses and becoming the first state CEO in the nation to close schools.
Expressing concerns that people without symptoms can spread the virus, DeWine recently imposed a statewide mask order as the coronavirus pandemic accelerated during July with new cases topping 1,000 most days.
He began liberating businesses from a stay-at-home order in early to mid-May, but recently requested and received an order to end alcohol sales at bars and restaurants at 10 p.m. because of reports of crowds and a lack of social distancing.
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