Beautiful Virgin Islands

Friday, Sep 11, 2026

One man with coronavirus attending Ohio church service led to infection of 91 others

One man with coronavirus attending Ohio church service led to infection of 91 others

"It spread like wildfire," Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said of the case. "All it takes is one person to cause tremendous #COVID19 spread."
A 56-year-old man with the coronavirus attending a single church service in Ohio led to the infection's spread to at least 91 other people across five counties.

Gov. Mike DeWine posted a graphic to his Facebook page Wednesday detailing how the virus spread over a three-week period from the date of the church service on June 14 to July 4.

"It spread like wildfire," the governor said at a news conference Tuesday where the graphic was displayed. "Very, very scary."

DeWine noted on his Facebook page, "All it takes is one person to cause tremendous #COVID19 spread."

He wrote that while this case of community transmission stems from an Ohio church, it can happen anywhere.

"I continue to encourage everyone to wear masks and social distance whenever you gather - including at worship services," he wrote.

On Thursday, DeWine's office disclosed in a statement that he has tested positive for the coronavirus.

The Republican governor took a test Thursday as part of standard protocol before meeting President Donald Trump at an airport in Cleveland, the statement said. His office said DeWine was asymptomatic and that he and his wife were returning to Columbus where they would both be tested. DeWine "plans to follow protocol and quarantine at his home in Cedarville for 14 days," the statement said.

In the case of the virus spreading from a church service in June, all 91 others infected showed symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, the governor said. Fifty-three of them had been at the same church service in Ohio County as the 56-year-old carrier, according to the graphic shared by DeWine.

Eighteen of the 53 infected at the service spread the virus to at least one other person, the graphic shows. The man's wife, a son and a daughter also got sick.

DeWine in a series of tweets on Tuesday also provided other examples of the virus' spread within family and friend groups.

In one case, a son living with his father who was in hospice care developed a cough and believed he had bronchitis. Family members came to visit to pay respects to his father. Five family members later tested positive for the virus, including a great-nephew, the governor said.

Separately, a man who had COVID-19 symptoms attended his brother's wedding and reception. Now, 15 people are sick, including the bride, groom and one of their grandfathers.

And in another outbreak, a person who tested positive for the virus attended a bridal shower, leading to others becoming infected. "There are now six confirmed cases and six households impacted by this outbreak," DeWine said.

"None of us want to stay away from our families and of course, it's natural to want to show affection when you see them," he tweeted Tuesday. But this virus is "lurking," he wrote. "Please try to remember that you are showing love by protecting them."

Rachel Feeley, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Health, declined on Thursday to release the name of the church where the virus spread or any details on the other cases. "We are not releasing additional information about these examples to the general public, in order to protect private health information," she said.

Feeley said that anyone who may have come into contact with people who had tested positive in these examples were notified through normal contact-tracing protocol.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Merz Rebukes AfD Expansion in Saxony-Anhalt
OpenAI Unveils GPT-6 and Says: "We May Already Have Reached AGI"
Congressman Accused Andrew of Sex Crimes in the United States
Donald Trump: "I'm Glad Harry and Meghan Left the United States"
Spicy Food Is Linked to Lower Death Risk — but It Is Not a Miracle Cure
AfD Enters Saxony-Anhalt Election at 41% in Historic Test for German Politics
Gen Z Turns to Investing as America's First-Home Dream Moves Further Out of Reach
TSA Unveils Major Airport-Security Overhaul as It Drops Gold+ Privatization Plan
CIA Chief Warned Russia Against Attacking NATO in Secret Moscow Mission
Raheem Sterling Charged With Dangerous Driving After Lamborghini Crash
The Secret Dolly Parton Kept Until Her Death: "She Was Much Sicker Than She Let On"
Glacier Collapse, Not Earthquake, Triggered Deadly Nepal-Tibet Flood
Turnbull Warns AUKUS Could Leave Australia Without Promised Nuclear Submarines
California Billionaires Pour More Than $150 Million Into Fight Over Proposed Wealth Tax
German Broadcaster Goes Dark to Warn AfD Could End Its Saxony-Anhalt Service
Badenoch Plans Major Shadow Cabinet Reshuffle as Tories Struggle in Third Place
Prime Minister Andy Burnham to Give Ukraine Classified Storm Shadow Blueprints for Domestic Missile Production
UK Graduate Job Vacancies Plunge 45% to Lowest Levels on Record
Iranian Hackers Shut Down British Power Plant for Four Days in Landmark Cyber Attack
Novak Djokovic Reveals Relentless Self-Doubt and Rejects Retirement in New Documentary
Trump Imposes 50% Tariffs on Canadian Goods After Bilateral Trade Talks Collapse
Australia Combines Indigenous Fire Knowledge With Satellite Tech to Combat Catastrophic Wildfires
Father and Son Jailed in Scotland Over £900,000 Airport Cannabis Smuggling Operation
UK Fraud Reports Surge Sevenfold as Criminals Exploit QR Codes in Parking Meters and Phishing Emails
Brighton Thrash Aston Villa in Four-Goal Opening Half as Manchester City Trail Bournemouth
Erin Patterson Appeals Triple Murder Convictions After Hotel Mixed Sequestered Jury With Prosecution
The rise and fall of Hui Ka Yan, China’s richest man
Woke: Britain Considers Plain Packaging for Cigars as Specialist Shops Warn of Industry Collapse
Britain's Public-Service Productivity Remains Below 2019 as £80 Billion Output Gap Fuels WFH Debate
Mandelson Epstein Case in Jeopardy as U.S. Files Stay Out of Reach
Prince Harry and Six Others Ordered to Pay £9.5 Million After High Court Defeat
Petrol Bombs Set Luxury Cars Alight Outside Birmingham Wedding as Police Hunt Three Men
Bitcoin Surges Toward $80,000 as Short Squeeze and ETF Inflows Ignite Crypto Rally
Twenty-Nine US States Take Meta to Trial Over Alleged Child Addiction on Instagram and Facebook
Former Scottish National Party Executive Peter Murrell Jailed for Five Years Over £400,000 Embezzlement
Moderna and Merck's Personalized Cancer Vaccine Succeeds in Historic Late-Stage Melanoma Trial
Prince Harry and Meghan to Move Back to Britain With Their Children
England and Wales Have Fewer Than 1,800 Prison Places Left for Men
Suspected People Smuggler Arrested After Investigation Identified Him
Children's Doctors Warn That Vaping Can Lead Young People to Smoking
Hundreds of Thousands of Students Receive GCSE and Vocational Results Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Here Is What Can Never Happen in Your Country: Taiwan Is Giving Money to All Its People Because It Collected Too Much Tax
UK Inflation Rises to 2.9% as Energy Bills Jump
UK Issues New Conduct Guide for Asylum Seekers on Consent and Respect
A Sleepless Night on Wall Street: Nasdaq to Begin Nearly Round-the-Clock Trading
"The First in the World": 69-Year-Old Protested Artificial Intelligence—and Went to Jail
Ukraine's Ousted Defence Minister Calls for Wartime Presidential Election
China’s Lifelike AI Humans Move From Livestreams Into Real-World Service Roles
Sarah Ferguson Reportedly Retreats to Late Ex-Boyfriend's Swiss Chalet
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez Sign Prenup Protecting Their Separate Fortunes
×