JUDY WOODRUFF: Let's hear about
the fallout of all of this
and how it's playing out in

the heartland from the
governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine.

He tested negative for the
coronavirus last night, just
hours after testing positive.

And, Governor, we're glad to
know that you did test negative.

And I want to ask you about
testing in just a moment, but
let's start with the economy

and employment, because we
do have new unemployment
numbers out today. They
did slightly improve

this past month.

But, overall, as you just
heard, a lot of Americans still
feeling very stressed. Tell

us what you're hearing
from Ohioans about the jobs
picture and unemployment.

GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): Well,
we have some people like those
that you just interviewed

who are very worried. They're
worried about paying the rent.

When we look at our state
revenues that are coming
in, one of the things
that our economists

say is that it's clear that
this money that Congress --
extra money, extra unemployment

money, was very valuable for
the individuals who got it and
was also, frankly, very valuable

for the economy and for
other people, so it had
a real ripple effect.

People spent it. And it really
was very, very significant.

So, we hope Congress comes
up with a compromise here
and gets something done.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Governor,
let's talk about your test.

As we said, you first
tested positive yesterday,
then negative. And I
understand you're going

to have another test tomorrow.
What does this experience,
though, tell you about the state

of testing right
now in this country?

GOV. MIKE DEWINE: You
know, Judy, the second
test I had, which is kind
of the gold standard,

is the test that almost every
one of your viewers who are
watching this, at least those

from Ohio, have gotten.

About 1.3 million Ohioans have
been tested. Over 90 percent
have been this particular

type of test. So, the first
test I took was a quick test.
And not all quick tests are

the same. But this
was an antigen test.

I'm not a scientist, but what
they tell me is that you're --
basically, they're measuring

the protein which is on
the coronavirus itself.
And they're not as
reliable. I'm told they're

roughly 70 percent reliable.

Usually, if it's wrong, it's
a false negative. I guess I'm
one of the strange ones, I got

a false positive. But the
test that we took yesterday at
Ohio State afterwards -- and

then they ran it twice -- and
my wife was tested as well
-- that really is the gold

standard. And it's what
most people, the test
most people have received.

I think all the states are
really looking at, how do we
improve the testing, but how

do we ramp this testing up?
And this antigen test may play
a role. We're looking at it

to see maybe how we can use it.

But you have to accept the fact
that you get a quick result,
but the result is not nearly

as reliable as it would
be in a diagnostic test.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, I know
you and five other governors
have just come together to sign

I guess a kind of a compact
where, you're going to work
together, pool your resources

to try to ramp up testing in
all five or six of these states.

But here we are, Governor, we
are more than six months into
when the first case of COVID

was discovered in the
United States, and we still
are behind on testing.

Should something have been done
sooner at the national level or
in some nationally coordinated

way to get us to a better
place than we are right now?

GOV. MIKE DEWINE: Well,
Judy, we all wish we had more
testing. It's been a problem for

most states, maybe all states.

We have lagged behind in
testing. Frankly, we have never
been a state that was red hot.

So, the priorities have never
been towards Ohio. And we
like it that way, in the sense

we don't want to be red hot. But
we need more testing in Ohio.

Now, we have tripled the testing
in Ohio. We're averaging now
about 22,000, 23,000 tests

a day. Frankly, we need to
double it again, and then we
probably need to double it after

that.

So, we're moving. We're trying
to grow some of our own, in
the sense of expanding our

labs in Ohio. I try to own some
of that. We're also reaching out
to a lot of different companies.

The market is starting to move,
finally. More companies are
offering different types of

tests that are out there.

But the lesson, I think, from
what happened with me is, we
have got to be careful. We

have got to make sure we have
got reliable tests. And we have
got to try to get our times

down. It's two things, get our
tests back quicker and also get
more tests and more capacity.

That, plus the social distancing
and wearing the masks, those
are the three things, the

masks, the social distancing
and the quicker tests, and get
those tests back, that's the

key to us being able to go
out and resume our lives.

I tell people, that's the --
that's freedom. The masks are
freedom. Social distancing gives

us freedom, and these
tests give us freedom.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Governor,
there have been a couple of
in-depth reports that have been

published in the last
few days looking at why
the United States, with
all of our resources

and all of our wealth, is one
of the worst countries on the
planet with regard to COVID.

And it points to mistakes made
in the beginning and throughout.

What do you look to here? I
know we don't - - you said a
moment ago you don't want to

spend a lot of time
looking back, but could,
should Washington,
should the leadership at

the national level have been
more forceful in taking this
seriously and getting people

to respond and pouring
more resources into it?

GOV. MIKE DEWINE: Judy, I
think there's a couple of big
lessons that we need to take

away from this.

One lesson is, we have to invest
in public health. Democrats
and Republicans alike have

not invested in public health
the way we should. We have got
to do it at the national level.

We have got to do it at the
state level. And we have got
to be committed to that for the

long run.

And the other, of course,
long-term lesson is,
we can't rely on other
countries to manufacture

all our products that we need
in regard to medical care.
We have got to make more of

them right here in
the United States.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, finally,
Governor, very quickly,
presidential election.

President Trump was in Ohio
yesterday talking about the
campaign. Among other things, he

spoke about Joe Biden, said
that Joe Biden is against the
Bible, against God, that he

wants to hurt God.

Is this the kind of message
that you think is the path
to victory for the president?

GOV. MIKE DEWINE: I think the
path to victory is for the
president to focus on the basic

things.

The president -- until
this coronavirus came
along, our economy was
doing well. I'm optimistic,

we get this thing behind
us, we are going to see our
economy flip back. I think the

president needs to talk
about that, his vision there.

For those of us who are more
conservative, we're very happy
with his court appointments

to the -- to not just
the Supreme Court, but
to the circuit court
and the district courts.

I think those are the --
some of the things that the
president will focus on.

JUDY WOODRUFF: We're going
to leave it there, Governor
Mike DeWine of Ohio.

GOV. MIKE DEWINE: Thanks, Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, again, glad
that test came back negative.

Thank you.

GOV. MIKE DEWINE: Thanks, Judy.