Ohio man, 60, who blasted COVID-19 lockdown as 'a political ploy' and said stay-at-home orders were 'b*****t' dies after contracting coronavirus- John W. McDaniel, 60, died on Wednesday at a hospital in Columbus, Ohio
- On Facebook, McDaniel called the virus a 'political ploy' and told followers: 'Prove me wrong'
- He tested positive for the virus weeks later and died on April 15
- McDaniel worked for 38 years for his family's industrial manufacturing company
- It is unclear if he had underlying health conditions which might have led to his death

A 60-year-old Ohio man who dismissed the state’s coronavirus lockdown as a ‘political ploy’ and claimed the governor didn’t have the authority to close businesses because of the pandemic has died of COVID-19.
John W. McDaniel tested positive for the coronavirus in late March and died at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus last Wednesday.
On Facebook, he had dismissed the killer virus as a 'political ploy' that he said officials were using to exert control over the public.
'Does anybody have the guts to say this COVID19 is a political ploy? Asking for a friend. Prove me wrong,' he wrote in a March 13 post.
He later claimed governors did not have the 'authority' to shut down bars and that anyone who was worried about becoming sick should 'just' not go out.
It is unknown if McDaniel had any underlying health conditions which could have contributed to his death. According to his obituary, he battled cancer in the 80s.
He is survived by his wife and their two adult sons. It is not known if any of them have fallen ill or become infected.
McDaniel was the president of his company's industrial manufacturing company.
His death comes as public officials continue to struggle to temper growing public unrest and impatience with lockdown orders against the persistent virus threat.

Full article: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8239557/Ohio-man-60-blasted-COVID-19-lockdown-political-ploy-dies-contracting-coronavirus.html?ito=social-twitter_dailymailus