Gov. DeWine tests positive, then negative

CELINA - Gov. Mike DeWine tested negative for COVID-19 on Thursday after testing positive earlier in the day before he was to meet with President Donald Trump, according to his Twitter page.

The governor's Twitter page said his wife, Fran, and staff members also tested negative.

"We do not have much experience with antigen tests here in Ohio," DeWine said in a Tweet. "We will be working with the manufacturer to have a better understanding of how the discrepancy between these two tests could have occurred."

DeWine in another Tweet said he and his wife plan to take another test on Saturday and will release those test results.

The Republican governor's office said he took the earlier 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 a Whirlpool Corp. plant in Clyde.

His office said DeWine, 73, had no symptoms, but he was returning to Columbus before Trump landed.

Trump offered DeWine his best wishes and said "he'll be fine" in remarks after arriving at the airport, where he was greeted by Lt. Gov. Jon Husted.

"A very good friend of mine just tested positive," Trump said. He added that DeWine "has done a fantastic job."

In recent weeks, DeWine has pleaded with Ohioans to take personal responsibility over the virus' spread across the state. He had resisted a statewide mask mandate until July 23. DeWine's first try at a statewide requirement for wearing masks inside businesses - back in April - drew backlash that led him to rescind that directive the following day.

Mercer County also was thrust into the spotlight on Thursday as the county entered Level 3 on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System due to worsening COVID-19 conditions.

"Mercer County is our most concerning county in the state right now," DeWine said. "The daily case rates in Mercer County have increased more than 200% in recent weeks, and they have had significant community spread."

The advisory system supplements existing statewide orders to assess the degree of the virus' spread and to engage and empower individuals, businesses, communities, local governments and others in their response and actions, according to the Ohio Department of Health's website.

The advisory system uses seven indicators to determine the alert level, with Level 1 having no or just one indicator met and Level 4 having six or seven indications met.

Indicators include new cases per capita, sustained increase in the number of new cases, proportion of cases not in a congregate setting, sustained increase in emergency room visits, sustained increase in outpatient visits, sustained increase in new COVID-19 hospital admissions and intensive care unit bed occupancy.

Mercer County was elevated to Level 2 in early July after two thresholds were exceeded: new cases per capita and the proportion of cases involving people who do not live in a congregate care facility.

The county was moved up to Level 3 on Thursday after experiencing a sustained increase in COVID-19 hospital admissions and a sustained increase in new cases for at least five consecutive days over the last three weeks.

"This is another reason we're asking everyone to take this seriously," Mercer County Health District administrator Jason Menchhofer said. "The sooner we can do that, the sooner we can get back to normal."

Mercer County has the highest case rate per capita in Ohio at 262.3 cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks, according to ODH. The daily new cases increased from an average of three per day in early July (July 11) to an average of 10 per day at the end of July.

Since July 28, 119 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Mercer County, according to a county health district news release. From July 25-Aug. 1, nine county residents have been hospitalized. District officials noted hospitalized residents can be hospitalized at facilities outside of Mercer County.

The county had 17 new cases on Thursday, raising the total to 572. District officials also reported 14 probable cases, 422 people who have recovered, 132 pending tests, 2,241 negative test results, four hospitalizations, 12 deaths and one probable death from COVID-19. Of the 572 total cases, 137 are active.

District officials on Wednesday said they will no longer include the age range and sex of each new confirmed case in the daily news releases. However, the data can still be located on the district's COVID-19 dashboard at https://arcg.is/1mTqa5.

Of the 17 new cases, nine involve men: two from the age of 20-30, one from 30-40, two from 50-60, three from 60-70 and one from 70-80. All are self-isolating.

The remaining eight cases involve women, including two from the age of 20-30, one from 40-50, four from 60-70 and one from 80-90. All are self-isolating.

Menchhofer said he hopes the county's elevation on the advisory system will serve as a wake-up call to residents.

"I think a lot of the increase we've been seeing, at least in part, is people in Mercer County being unwilling to let go of how they normally do things," Menchhofer said. "If we can all buckle down for a few weeks, I think we'd see a difference."

Although people with COVID-19 usually experience mild symptoms, Menchhofer said residents should still be wary of the virus.

"On the one hand you can say it's no big deal because not many people are getting seriously sick," he said. "But I think it's easy to say that until it's your elderly loved one or your immunocompromised child."

The Auglaize County Health Department reported one new confirmed case on Thursday, bringing that county's number to 238. Department officials also reported 34 probable cases, 23 hospitalizations, 114 people who have recovered and five deaths from COVID-19.

As of Thursday evening, ODH reported 97,471 confirmed and probable cases in the state, 11,366 hospitalizations and 3,618 confirmed and probable deaths from COVID-19.

COVID-19 cases/deaths:
Mercer County recorded 17 new COVID-19 cases Thursday.
Ohio cases  97,471
Ohio deaths  3,618
Mercer County cases  572
Mercer County deaths  12
Auglaize County cases  238
Auglaize County deaths  5