Governor tests positive for COVID-19

VW independent staff/submitted information

COLUMBUS — This morning, at approximately 7:30 a.m., Governor Mike DeWine tested positive for COVID-19.

He started experiencing mild, cold-like symptoms yesterday, including sneezing and a runny nose. His symptoms worsened slightly during the night, but the Governor is working remotely from home today.

Planning to get together with family over the weekend, he took a cautionary test on Sunday before he developed any symptoms. The test was negative. 

The Governor has started taking the anti-retroviral therapy, Paxlovid, as advised by his doctor. He will work from home for the rest of the week.

KP.3.1.1, a variant in the Omicron family, is now the predominant COVID-19 variant circulating in the United States and has been on the rise since June. COVID-19 cases and wastewater detections of COVID-19 have been on the rise in Ohio since late June. Though hospitalizations, which are a good indicator of disease severity, have risen modestly in much of the United States, they are not currently rising in Ohio.