Last Updated on July 17, 2020
A Florida health official claims that a man who died as a result of a motorcycle accident was added to a growing COVID-19-related death toll that has been cited as proof of a spike in the virus.
The suspicious addition of the man’s untimely passing to the COVID-19 tally has had many people asking questions after two people in their 20s with no underlying health conditions supposedly passed away from the coronavirus, when officials revealed that one of the otherwise healthy men did not die of COVID-19 in a hospital, but instead, died of COVID-19 at the same moment he was killed in a motorcycle incident.
When asked about the deceased’s underlying health conditions, Orange County Health Officer Dr. Raul Pino told Fox35 that “the first one didn’t have any,” he said. “He died in a motorcycle accident.”
The Health Officer was then asked whether the two young men’s deaths were scrubbed from the coronavirus data.
“I don’t think so. I have to double-check,” an uncertain Pino said. “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 fact that the individual didn’t die from COVID-19…died in the crash.”
He added, “But you could actually argue that it could have been the COVID-19 that caused him to crash. I don’t know the conclusion of that one.”
More questions about Florida’s #COVID19 data tonight after state health official tells us a person who died in a motorcycle accident was added to the state’s coronavirus death count. Story at 10 #FOX35News
— Danielle Lama DeJarlais (@DaniDeJarlais) July 17, 2020
Journalist Daniella Lama recently tweeted an update where the medical examiner reportedly clarified the situation on the motorcyclist’s death.
“Medical examiner’s office tells us they would not add a motorcycle accident death to COVID-19 count, even if the person tested positive for coronavirus,” she tweeted.
Medical examiner’s office tells us they would not add a motorcycle accident death to COVID-19 count, even if the person tested positive for coronavirus #FOX35News
— Danielle Lama DeJarlais (@DaniDeJarlais) July 17, 2020
According to a statement, the Florida Department of Health counts coronavirus-related deaths if:
“COVID19 is listed as the immediate or underlying cause of death, or listed as one of the significant conditions contributing to death. 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.”
Despite the clarification, Florida’s coronavirus rates were placed under scrutiny following accusations of artificially inflating results after one lab reported 100% test rates and another claiming rates as high as 98% when, in actuality, was as low as 9.4%.
National File reported:
After noticing several local labs had a near-100% rate of positive tests and questioning the almost impossible odds of this being true, FOX 35 learned that several labs were wildly incorrect in their reporting.
From FOX 35 Orlando:
The report showed that Orlando Health had a 98 percent positivity rate. However, when FOX 35 News contacted the hospital, they confirmed errors in the report. Orlando Health’s positivity rate is only 9.4 percent, not 98 percent as in the report.
The report also showed that the Orlando Veteran’s Medical Center had a positivity rate of 76 percent. A spokesperson for the VA told FOX 35 News on Tuesday that this does not reflect their numbers and that the positivity rate for the center is actually 6 percent.
Many states are now requiring Americans to wear masks as a response to the virus, even as more evidence of COVID-19 case and death numbers being inflated.
