The official autopsy report for George Floyd found he had tested positive for coronavirus before his death in police custody last week.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s full report finds Floyd tested positive for the virus on April 3. Floyd died on May 25 after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
“Since positivity for [coronavirus] can persist for weeks after the onset and resolution of clinical disease, the autopsy result most likely reflects asymptomatic but persistent positivity from previous infection,” the report reads.
The 20-page report, which was released with the consent of Floyd’s family, also found Floyd had suffered blunt-force injuries to his face, shoulders, hands, arms, and legs, with bruises on his wrists from handcuffs and a broken rib.
Floyd’s family rejected the preliminary assessment of the Hennepin County Medical Examiner of “no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation.”
They later pursued an independent autopsy conducted by Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Allecia Wilson, who conducted the medical exam at the request of Floyd family attorney Ben Crump. The alternative autopsy “determined that asphyxiation from sustained pressure was the cause of death.”
