Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Thursday he is feeling fine other than a headache after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier in the day.
鈥淪o that was a big surprise,鈥 he said. 鈥淎 big surprise to me and a surprise to my family.鈥
DeWine was tested en route to the airport as part of the standard protocol for a planned meet-and-greet with President Donald Trump at Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland Thursday afternoon. Trump is visiting a Northeast Ohio manufacturing plant and holding an evening fundraiser Thursday.
"We want to wish him the best," the president said on the tarmac in Cleveland. "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.'"
It was the first test DeWine had taken since he demonstrated the test live during a statewide briefing in June, the governor said.
Another test has since been administered in Columbus, said DeWine, acknowledging the possibility that the first test could be a false positive. That second test was not a 鈥渞apid鈥 test and the results are not yet available.
鈥淚 had no symptoms, no reason to think I had COVID-19, so I haven鈥檛 done any other testing,鈥 he said in a Zoom address Thursday afternoon.
The governor said he鈥檇 been cautious since the pandemic began about keeping his distance 鈥 a even from members of his own family, including his two pregnant daughters 鈥 and wore a mask.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know where I got it,鈥 he said, adding that everyone who has been in direct contact, including family members, staff members and Ohio State Highway Patrol in his 鈥渂ubble,鈥 also was tested Thursday.
DeWine returned to Cedarville around 4 p.m., where the governor said he has been spending most of his time since the pandemic began and where he and his wife, Fran, will self-quarantine for at least the next 14 days.
鈥淏ut anyone who knows me knows I鈥檓 going to continue to do what I do,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 spend most days right here anyway.鈥
鈥淚鈥檝e got a great team around me, I鈥檝e got a great lieutenant governor,鈥 he said.
Lt. Gov. John Husted also was tested for the coronavirus Thursday; the results were negative.
DeWine, 73, was an early champion of public health measures meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus. His order shutting down all but essential businesses early on drew complaints from those who saw it as an overreaction.
The governor said he was disappointed in social media talk that his illness is proof that masks don鈥檛 work in slowing the spread of the coronavirus. And he said he鈥檇 received texts with the same message.
鈥淚鈥檝e already gotten a few not-so-nice texts,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not the lesson that should come from this. The lesson that should come from is that we鈥檙e all human, this virus is everywhere, this virus is very tough and yes, you can contract it even when you鈥檙e very, very careful and even when you wear a mask. But your odds are just dramatically better [with a mask.]鈥