Ohio governor says his ‘false positive’ is a ‘wakeup call’ about newer types of coronavirus tests

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said Sunday that his “false positive” is a “wakeup call” about newer types of coronavirus tests.

The Ohio governor said state officials will have to be “very careful” about expanding quick antigen testing, after he received a positive antigen test result and then two negative PCR diagnostic test results.

{mosads}“What we saw the other day is certainly  if anyone needed a wakeup call with – about antigens, how careful you have to be, that was – we certainly saw that with my test. And we’re going to be very careful in how we use it,” he said. 

DeWine said the PCR diagnostic test being used throughout his state and the country is “very, very reliable,” but the antigen test that he took and tested positive from last week is “fairly new.”

“I think what people should not take away from my experience that testing is not reliable or doesn’t work,” he said. “What I took was, as you pointed out, an antigen test, which is really a – should be looked at as a screening test.” 

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on testing positive for coronavirus and then testing negative on a second test: “If anyone needed a wake-up call about antigens, how careful you have to be… we certainly saw that with my test. And we’re going to be very careful in how we use it” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/nh033jjVLa

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) August 9, 2020

The Ohio governor maintained that antigen tests “could be used in some situations,” but said “you have to understand going in that you can get the false positives, like happened in my case, or you can get the false negatives.”

But DeWine said the six states that committed together to buy coronavirus testing kits will continue their efforts “not just potentially for antigen tests, but maybe for other things as well.”

The governors from Virginia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio and Maryland made an agreement to buy coronavirus testing kits as a way to show private companies the demand to boost production of tests. The antigen tests deliver results in about 15 to 20 minutes.

State officials have been depending on commercial labs for test results, delaying test results by days or even weeks last month.

The Ohio governor initially tested positive for coronavirus ahead of a visit by President Trump to the state last week.