COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine tested positive Thursday for the coronavirus just ahead of a planned meeting with President Donald Trump.
The Republican governor’s office said he took the test as part of standard protocol before he was to meet Trump at an airport in Cleveland. He had planned to join the president on a visit to the Whirlpool Corp. plant in northwest Ohio.
His office said the 73-year-old DeWine had no symptoms, but was returning to Columbus before Trump had landed. His office said he and his wife, Fran DeWine, will both be tested there. DeWine then plans to quarantine at his home in Cedarville for 14 days.
Lt. Gov. Jon Husted (HYOOS’-ted) tested negative. DeWine, in his first term as governor, is one of Ohio’s most familiar politicians, previously serving as a U.S. congressman, two-term U.S. senator, Ohio attorney general and lieutenant governor.
Deputy White House Press Secretary Judd Deere tweeted that the president wishes DeWine “a speedy and full recovery and commends the job he’s doing for the great state of Ohio.”