A 60-year-old Ohio man who dismissed the state’s coronavirus lockdown as a ‘political ploy’ and posted on Twitter that the governor didn’t have the authority to order the closure of businesses because of the pandemic has died of COVID-19.

John W. McDaniel of Marion County, who tested positive for the coronavirus in late March, died at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus this past Wednesday.

Before he became infected, McDaniel posted several messages on social media blasting Governor Mike DeWine for issuing stay-at-home orders.

‘If what I'm hearing is true, that DeWine has ordered all bars and restaurants to be closed, I say bull****!,’ the March 15 post reads.

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‘He doesn't have that authority. If you are paranoid about getting sick just don't go out.

‘It shouldn't keep those of us from living our lives.’



John W. McDaniel, 60, of Marion County, Ohio, died of COVID-19 at a Columbus hospital on Wednesday



McDaniel posted a series of Facebook messages blasting the state-imposed coronavirus lockdown. He criticized Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, saying he didn't have the authority to order businesses to shut

On March 13, McDaniel wrote that 'this Covid19 is a political ploy'

McDaniel added: ‘The madness has to stop.’

In another Facebook post, he wrote: ‘Does anybody have the guts to say this Covid19 is a political ploy? Asking for a friend.

‘Prove me wrong.’

Several of McDaniel’s Facebook posts are circulating on the internet after his social media page was apparently deleted.

McDaniel is survived by his wife and children.

He was the president of O&M Company, an industrial equipment supplier based in Marion.

McDaniel is the first resident of Marion County to die of COVID-19, according to the Marion Star

‘On behalf of the entire Marion County community, we express our deepest sympathies to his family and friends,’ Marion Public Health Commissioner Traci Kinsler said in a press release issued Wednesday.

‘Our thoughts go out to the Marion County community, as well as all Ohioans, and those across the world battling this illness and the families of everyone affected by this pandemic.’

DeWine announced on Monday that schools across Ohio will stay closed for the remainder of the school year while classes continue remotely.

DeWine, who was the first governor in the nation to shutter schools statewide, said his latest decision stems from concern for the continued safety of students, teachers and communities.

He said returning students to their classrooms could lead to new cases of COVID-19.

DeWine said teachers and administrators also worried that another disruption to a school year already interrupted by the coronavirus might negatively affect students, who need continuity.

“We have to think about the risk to teachers, students, and our communities,” DeWine said.

The governor said no decision has been made about the fall but said a blend of in-person and online learning might be an option for districts. He urged state and local education leaders to be considering plans to address the needs of students with disabilities, those with health risks, those lacking internet access and those who might not have a stable home life.

Ohio inmates now make up more than one in four of the state’s coronavirus cases following a spike in identified infections as universal testing takes place inside three state prisons.

Figures released Monday show 1,950 positive tests at Marion Correctional Facility in north-central Ohio, out of about 2,500 total inmates, according to the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

In addition, 154 employees at Marion have tested positive, out of a total of about 350 workers, which includes about 295 guards.

One Marion prison guard died earlier this month.

Cases also spiked at a second prison, Pickaway Correctional Facility, where 1,163 have tested positive out of a population of about 2,000, according to Monday’s data.

DeWine said he would look into reports of inmates being placed back into normal living situations without social distancing while awaiting delayed test results.

Systemwide, 3,312 inmates have tested positive and eight have died, including six at Pickaway.

Even the head of the prison guards’ union, Christopher Mabe, is in self-quarantine after his wife, a guard at Lorain Correctional Institution, tested positive.

The spike in prison infections sent the state’s tally of cases on Monday to nearly 13,000, which includes 509 deaths and more than 2,600 hospitalizations.

Inmate rights groups have called on the Republican governor to release thousands of the state’s 49,000 inmates to prevent the spread of the virus - among them Policy Matters Ohio, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and the Juvenile Justice Coalition.