U.S. Senator Rob Portman of Ohio announces he has COVID-19 as Ohio remains near the top among states where the pandemic is soaring....Portman joins dozens of U.S. senators who have tested positive for COVID-19...Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland, leads all of Ohio's 88 counties with COVID-19 cases...By editor Kathy Wray Coleman of Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader

            U.S. Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, a Cincinnati Republican

(www.clevelandurbannews.com) / (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, a retiring  Republican member of the U.S. senate and one of two U.S. senators from Ohio, has tested positive for COVID-19.

“In preparation for returning to Washington, DC, I took an at-home COVID test last night and it was positive,” Sen Portman said in a statement. “I am asymptomatic and feel fine. I have been in contact with the Attending Physician and my personal doctor. I am following their medical advice and following CDC guidelines and isolating for the recommended five days.

A Cincinnati Republican, Portman, 66 and a junior U.S. senator, said that he will not be in Washington this week and will instead work from home

A former congressman and  U.S. trade representative under then president George W. Bush, Portman headily defeated Democrat Lee Fisher to win a seat on the U.S. senate in 2010 and was reelected in 2016. Last year he publicly announced that he would not seek reelection in 2022. That opened the floodgates for a barrage of at least seven Republicans hoping to succeed him such as former state treasurer Josh Mandel and former Ohio Republican Party Chairwoman Jane Timken,  as well as Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan of Niles, the most prominent Democrat in the senate race and of whom tested positive for COVID-19 in September.  

Portman joins Democratic U.S. Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey,  Chris Coons of Delaware, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in recently announcing that he has COVID-19. He is among dozens of  other U.S. senators who have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic hit the U.S. with a vengeance in March of 2020.  

The announcement comes as  Ohio continues to deal with rising COVID-19 cases, prompting Gov. Mike DeWine to call in 2,300 Ohio national guardsmen last month to assist at over-crowded hospitals in Ohio, primarily in Northeast Ohio, which includes the cities of Cleveland and Akron .  

Ohio ranks seventh among the states with the most cases, behind California, Texas, Florida, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania, respectively. To date Ohio has had roughly two million cases coupled with 29,000 deaths, and the Omicron  Variant is driving the surge relative to the latest statistics, at least nationally. Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland, leads all of Ohio's 88 counties with 236,000 cases and 2,825 deaths.

Currently there have been some 293 million COVID-19 cases in the U.S. since the pandemic began, and more than 5.4 million deaths. Worldwide data is worse with roughly 274 million regular cases and some five million people dead from the vicious disease.  (www.clevelandurbannews.com) / (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com) the most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.