Autopsy shows George Floyd tested positive for coronavirus

George Floyd tested positive for the novel coronavirus in a test taken after his death, according to Hennepin County’s new autopsy report released earlier today.

The post-mortem nasal swab was found to be “positive for 2019-nCoV RNA,” said the report, using another term for the type of coronavirus that causes Covid-19.



Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker said the type of test performed for the autopsy, called PCR, can show a positive result “for weeks after the onset and resolution of clinical disease.”

As a result, Baker said, “the autopsy result most likely reflects asymptomatic but persistent PCR positivity from previous infection” — meaning the virus played no known role in Floyd’s death and he was unlikely to have been contagious.

Source: CNN