(From the office of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine)
At around 7:30 a.m. this morning, Governor Mike DeWine tested positive for COVID-19. Yesterday, he began experiencing mild cold-like symptoms, including sneezing and a runny nose. His symptoms worsened slightly throughout the night, but the governor is working from home today.
Since he was planning to meet his family over the weekend, he underwent a precautionary test on Sunday before he developed any symptoms. The test was negative.
The governor has started taking the antiretroviral therapy Paxlovid on the advice of his doctor. He will work from home for the rest of the week.
KP.3.1.1, a variant of the omicron family, is currently the predominant COVID-19 variant in the United States and has been on the rise since June. Since late June, COVID-19 cases and wastewater detections of COVID-19 have been increasing in Ohio. Although hospitalizations, which are a good indicator of disease severity, have increased slightly across much of the United States, they are not currently increasing in Ohio.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends COVID-19 vaccinations for everyone six months of age and older.
Updated COVID-19 vaccines should be available in early fall. Until then, people who have never been vaccinated or are eligible for another dose, such as adults 65 and older and people with weakened immune systems, should talk to their doctor about the current vaccine.
