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UPDATE: Gov. DeWine Tests Negative For COVID-19 After Second Test

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WOUB | AP) — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has tested tested negative for COVID-19 after testing positive earlier the same day.

DeWine’s office sent out a statement Thursday night saying he, his wife Fran and his staff members were issued PCR tests upon his return to Columbus and the results from Wexner Medical Center concluded they were all negative for COVID-19.

“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,” according to the statement.

These tests came back negative the first time and came back negative when run on a second diagnostic platform.

“We feel confident in the results from Wexner Medical Center,” the statement read. “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.”

The Republican governor tested positive on a rapid antigen test issued by President Donald Trump’s staff. He took the test as part of standard protocol before meeting Trump at an airport in Cleveland.

“We do not have much experience with antigen tests here in Ohio,” according to the statement. “We will be working with the manufacturer to have a better understanding of how the discrepancy between these two tests could have occurred.”

According to the FDA, which issued an emergency use authorization for antigen tests in May, “these diagnostic tests quickly detect fragments of proteins found on or within the virus by testing samples collected from the nasal cavity using swabs.”

He had planned to join the president on a visit to the Whirlpool Corp. plant in northwest Ohio. But upon learning of the positive result, he returned to Columbus before President Trump landed.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, left, and his wife Fran, walk into their residence after he tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the day Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020, in Bexley, Ohio.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, left, and his wife Fran, walk into their residence after he tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the day Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020, in Bexley, Ohio. [AP Photo | Jay LaPrete]
The 73-year-old governor has no symptoms. DeWine said he has asthma, but it’s under control, and he reported no other underlying conditions that would make him at greater risk from the disease.

“I feel fine,” DeWine said at a press briefing Thursday afternoon. “Have a headache, but I get a lot of headaches throughout my life, so a headache is not anything unusual.”

He planned to quarantine for 14 days at his home in Cedarville.

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted tested negative on the antigen test and attended Trump’s Whirlpool event.

DeWine and the First Lady plan to take another PCR test on Saturday. The results will be released.