Florida State president John Thrasher and wife test positive for coronavirus

Florida State University President John Thrasher and his wife tested positive for COVID-19, the university announced Tuesday afternoon.

Thrasher, 76, who had announced earlier this year he will retire once a successor is chosen, tested positive at 3:45 p.m on Tuesday. The university said his wife, Jean Thrasher, had learned she tested positive Monday night after after “a recent stay at a hospital and a local rehabilitation facility for an unrelated condition.”

The couple are isolating at home, and the university released a statement saying both are feeling well. Thrasher is continuing to work from home, the statement said.

Thrasher attended Saturday’s FSU football game, but the statement said he is regularly tested, and that he tested negative as recently as Friday. Jean Thrasher was not in attendance at that game.

Florida State has reported 1,464 positive cases since re-opening. During the first week of the semester, 11 students were arrested for throwing a party. And as numbers continued to spike and FSU led state universities with the highest number of reported positive cases, Thrasher sent a stern message to students warning they would be suspended if they did not comply with self-isolation or quarantine policies.

The statement from the university said Thrasher had limited the in-person meetings and events he attended. It also said the university is conducting contact tracing for those who have been in proximity to the president recently.

“Thrasher has been a strong proponent of face coverings and social distancing and has regularly communicated with the campus community about FSU’s COVID-19 protocols and expectations,” the statement said.