During a week in which coronavirus reporting errors have left little doubt that the number of deaths being attributed to COVID-19 can be disputed, a man killed in a traffic accident was considered to have officially died from the virus, according to a report.
WOFL-TV reported Thursday that two individuals in their twenties had died of the coronavirus in Orange County, Florida.
The outlet spoke to Orange County Health Officer Dr. Raul Pino, who had a shocking explanation about how deaths are being reported in the Sunshine State.
Pino was asked if the two young individuals who died from the coronavirus had any underlying medical conditions.
The doctor’s response was astounding.
“The first one didn’t have any,” the health official said about one death and any possible pre-existing medical conditions.
“He died in a motorcycle accident,” Pino said.
Pino further revealed that he couldn’t rule out the possibility that the young man’s trauma death was counted as a coronavirus death by the state.
He was asked if the man’s name had been removed from the state’s COVID-19 data.
“I don’t think so. I have to double-check,” he told WOFL.
“We were arguing — discussing — or trying to argue with the state. Not because of the numbers — it’s 100, it doesn’t make any difference if it’s 99 — but the validity that the fact that the individual didn’t die from COVID-19, died in the crash,” he said.
Pino then appeared to justify the man’s death being attributed to the coronavirus.
“But you could actually argue that it could have been the COVID-19 that caused him to crash. So I don’t know the conclusion of that one,” he said.
WOFL, seeking answers, asked Florida health officials for more clarity.
The Florida Department of Health told the outlet that a “COVID death” is counted if “COVID-19 is listed as the immediate or underlying cause of death, or listed as one of the significant conditions contributing to death.”
Health officials added, “or, if there is a confirmed COVID-19 infection from a lab test – and, the cause of death doesn’t meet exclusion criteria – like trauma, suicide, homicide, overdose, motor-vehicle accident, etc.”
WOFL’s report came out the same week that Florida had to answer tough questions after it botched its reporting of cases in a number of locations.
It remains unclear if the 20-year-old motorcycle accident victim has been counted as having died from the coronavirus.
The report comes after it was revealed that multiple labs in the state have failed to accurately report negative test results.
Some labs were said to be misrepresenting positive cases by up to 1,000 percent.
WOFL reported earlier this week that after its investigative team had “noticed errors in the state’s report on positivity rates, the Florida Department of Health said that some laboratories have not been reporting negative test result data to the state.”
“Countless labs have reported a 100 percent positivity rate, which means every single person tested was positive,” the station reported.
Author: Johnathan Jones