Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s office says the governor tested negative for COVID-19 in a second test administered on Thursday in Columbus.
The governor previously tested positive for the coronavirus in an antigen test administered in Cleveland as part of the protocol to meet the president.
The governor’s office says antigen tests represent a new technology to reduce the cost and improve the turnaround time for COVID-19 testing, and are quite new.
The second test later in the day that came back negative was a PCR test, which is known to be very sensitive, and looks for the genetic material specific for the virus that causes COVID-19.
The governor’s office says they are confident in the results from the OSU Wexner Medical Center, as 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.
However, out of an abundance of caution, and at the direction of medical professionals, the Governor and First Lady plan on having another PCR test on Saturday.