George Floyd, who died after being restrained by the Minneapolis police, tested positive for the Coronavirus in April, an autopsy report released Wednesday (June 3) showed.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office released its official findings after seeking the family’s permission, which showed Floyd was diagnosed with COVID-19 on April 3. It, however, remains unclear as to where the information of him testing positive in April was drawn from.

According to CNN, the test performed for the autopsy is called PCR, which can show positive results for weeks after the onset and resolution of clinical disease. The report stated that the positive result is likely from an old infection and it has nothing to do with Floyd’s death on May 25. It is believed that the father of two was asymptomatic at the time of death and suffered from a heart attack while being restrained by officers.

Chief Medical Examiner Andrew Baker said in his report, “The decedent was known to be positive for 2019-nCoV RNA on 4/3/2020. Since PCR positivity for 2019-nCoV RNA can persist for weeks after the onset and resolutions of clinical disease, the autopsy results most likely reflect asymptomatic but persistent PCR positivity from the previous infection."

Floyd’s death was classified as a homicide, following the same conclusion of the independent autopsy requested by his family earlier this week.

The report stated that Floyd suffered cardiopulmonary arrest after police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes while he was being restrained.

The county’s earlier report stated that Floyd had a history of heart disease and had fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine in his system- which was listed as the "other significant conditions." The footnotes also stated that the presence of fentanyl toxicity can cause severe respiratory depression and seizures.

Bystander video clearly showed Floyd repeatedly pleading and saying, "I can’t breathe" as police officer Derek Chauvin pinned him to the ground and applied pressure on the neck.

After the incident, Derek Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter last week. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison upgraded the charges against Chauvin to second-degree murder Wednesday.

Three fellow officers, Thomas Lane, J Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao, were fired from the Minneapolis police department and have been taken into custody. They were charged Monday (June 1) with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter.

In Manchester, England, street artist Akse has put up a mural of George Floyd, the unarmed black man who died after a US police officer knelt on his neck during an arrest
In Manchester, England, street artist Akse has put up a mural of George Floyd, the unarmed black man who died after a US police officer knelt on his neck during an arrest AFP / Paul ELLIS
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