A dad who described coronavirus as a political ploy and blasted stay-at-home orders as "bulls***" has died after contracting the disease, according to reports.
John W. McDaniel, from Marion County in Ohio, died in hospital on April 15 after firing off a string of angry Facebook posts about the contagion.
The 60-year-old was diagnosed with Covid-19 in late March and is reportedly the first to die from the killer bug in the county - with his posts being widely shared online, reports the Sun.
Lockdown measures in the US are done on a state-by-state basis, in the case of Ohio by governor Mike DeWine.
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A post, apparently written by Mr McDaniel, said: "If what I'm hearing is true, that DeWine has ordered all bars and restaurants to be closed, I say bulls***!"
"He doesn't have that authority. If you are paranoid about getting sick just don't go out. It shouldn't keep those of us from living our lives.
"The madness has to stop."
In another post he asked: "Does anybody have the guts to say this Covid19 is a political ploy? Asking for a friend. Prove me wrong."
However, McDaniel's page appears to have now been taken down.
Snyder Funeral Homes posted an obituary which said McDaniel was a loving family man who was planning to build a cabin to live out his retirement years.
"You could not have known a more loving and loyal husband, father, son, brother, uncle, and friend," it said.
"He was truly looking forward to building a new family cabin in the self-titled nature retreat of 'Locwood', fifty plus acres in Marion County where he and Lisa [his wife] had planned to enjoy their retirement years [damn Covid-19!]."
A service will be livestreamed via the funeral home on April 22.
"On behalf of [McDaniel's] family, they would like to extend a heartfelt 'Thank you' to the nurses at Marion General Hospital and to all the staff at Riverside Methodist Hospital for everything they did to try and save Johnny’s life from Covid-19," the obituary continued.
"They would also like to remind everyone to continue practising social distancing to keep each other safe."
Marion County has 1,834 confirmed virus cases, while Ohio has 12,516 and at least 491 people have been officially reported to have died.
There is a growing number of protests against the lockdown measures in the US, with thousands of Trump supporters holding armed rallies bemoaning their 'loss of freedom'.
Protestors are defying state governors’ stay-at-home orders and demanding to be let out.
Far-right extremists, religious fundamentalists and armed militia are among the demonstrators, a Mirror investigation has found.
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