Coronavirus: Ohio Man Dies After Ranting About Stay-At-Home Order And Labeling COVID-19 A ‘Political Ploy’

A man from Ohio has died of COVID-19 after previously declaring that the coronavirus was just a political ploy. John W. McDaniel, a 60-year-old businessman was diagnosed with the disease in March and he is being talked about after his death because of the things he said about the pandemic.

In his widely circulated post on Facebook, he called the lockdown in Ohio as “bull****” and ranted about being ordered to stay home by Gov. Mike DeWine when he thinks the leaser doesn’t have authority to do so.

Days before he was tested positive for coronavirus infection, he seemed to have commented on the governor’s stay-at-home order that also required bars, restaurants and shops to close down. According to the Daily Mail, McDaniel does not believe that the pandemic is real, rather, it is some kind of a political scheme.

"If what I'm hearing is true, that DeWine has ordered all bars and restaurants to be closed, I say bulls***!," he wrote on Facebook on March 15. "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 and the madness has to stop."

Prior to this post, he also asked people to prove him wrong as he thinks COVID-19 is just a big hoax. His posts were taken down when he died on April 15 and his death at the Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus was confirmed by health officials.

Marion Star reported that Marion Public Health affirmed that the county had its first COVID-19 related death. However, the deceased’s identity was not disclosed at the time of the announcement.

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

In any case, McDaniel was survived by his wife and two adult children. According to his obituary, he was the president of an industrial manufacturing firm called O&M Company. Meanwhile, Marion County in Ohio has 1,834 confirmed COVID-19 cases currently.