A report published Wednesday evening indicated George Floyd had coronavirus approximately two months before his death, though multiple autopsies did not attribute his death to the illness.
Ed O’Keefe of CBS News said on Twitter that the official autopsy found George Floyd had coronavirus, which could be a significant development in the case if medical officials follow their pattern of categorizing deaths related to the disease.
According to O’Keefe, who cited the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, Floyd tested positive on April 3rd.
Multiple autopsies were completed and arrived at differing conclusions.
CBS News reported:
Dr. Allecia Wilson, one of the pathologists who conducted the independent autopsy, said Monday afternoon that Floyd died as a result of mechanical asphyxiation.
But the report released later Monday by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office said Floyd died of “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint and neck compression.” The manner of death was ruled homicide, but the office noted that “is not a legal determination of culpability or intent.” A preliminary autopsy report cited earlier by prosecutors said the county medical examiner’s review “revealed no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation.”
In April, Minnesota, along with many other states, began attributing deaths to coronavirus if no test was done and the deceased was suspected of having the illness.
Via the Minnesota Department of Health:
If a diagnosis of COVID-19 is suspected or likely “ …it is acceptable to report COVID-19 as ‘probable’ or ‘presumed’.”
That could have an impact on Floyd’s suspected cause of death.
There have been several instances around the country where an individual had COVID-19, but died under unrelated circumstances, and the death was blamed on the virus.
In May, a Colorado man had a blood alcohol level of .550 and died of alcohol poisoning, but his cause of death was later changed to coronavirus, Fox News reported.
Michigan counted deaths “with COVID-19,” as opposed to “of COIVD-19,” leading some to accuse the state of cooking the numbers.
In Alabama, “a bedbound patient with aspiration pneumonia in one lung and a person with a buildup of fluid and partial collapse of one lung” had their deaths attributed to coronavirus, according to the Washington Post.
“In this country, we’ve taken a very liberal approach to mortality,” Dr. Deborah Birx said at a press briefing on April 7th.
“The intent is, right now, that … if someone dies with COVID-19, we are counting that as a CODID-19 death,” she said.
Kyle Olson is a reporter for Breitbart News. He is also host of “The Kyle Olson Show,” syndicated on Michigan radio stations on Saturdays. Listen to segments on YouTube. Follow him on Twitter and like him on Facebook.