AceShowbiz - Kelly Dodd is not downplaying deaths caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Shortly after making headlines for saying "no one is dying here of the virus" in a social media video celebrating the reopening of restaurants and stores, the star of "The Real Housewives of Orange County" issued a clarifying statement.

In an Instagram video she posted on Monday, May 25, the 44-year-old TV personality began her explanation by singling out Page Six and Us Weekly. She continued to make it cleat that she was "by no means minimizing deaths that have been caused by this virus." She added, "And I feel for their loved ones."

"However, Orange County has 133 deaths out of 3 million people, much lower than most. I felt encouraged and excited that people were out and about and there was some sense of normalcy," the fiancee of Fox News Channel senior correspondent Rick Leventhal shared her thoughts on the death rate related to COVID-19 in her California hometown.

Addressing earlier reports that she was not wearing a mask during her restaurant outing, Dodd said, "And, by the way, I was wearing a mask." She then pointed to her mother, "This lady right here was not wearing the mask, and no patrons when we were eating were wearing the mask. The servers were, but you can't eat with a mask on, so get your facts straight."

Earlier the same day, Dodd made use of Instagram Stories to share a video of herself dining at an Orange County restaurant with her mother Bobbi and her 13-year-old daughter Jolie. "Yay, we finally get to have a meal out. Yay, no one's wearing masks," she expressed her excitement in the video. "I love it. Yay!"

Once inside, the reality star stated, "Yeah, no one's wearing masks here in Orange County. Yup, because no one is dying here of the virus." She followed up the video with a message that read, "It's not the government's job to protect my health. It's the government's job to protect my RIGHTS. It's my job to protect my health. When you trade liberty for safety you end up losing both."

On that same day, the Los Angeles Times reported that on Thursday, May 21, Orange County registered 14 new coronavirus-related deaths, noting that it was "the most in a single day in the area since the pandemic began." By Monday, the country has lost a total of 133 people to the novel virus.

This was not the first time Dodd landed in hot water over her remarks related to coronavirus. Back in April, she apologized publicly for suggesting that the pandemic is "God's way of thinning the herd." Insisting that she is not insensitive, she said in an Instagram Stories video, "What I meant was, do these pandemics happen because it's God way? I'm not God."