coronavirus

7Aug

By Web TeamNo Comments

Profiles, Sad But True, United Kingdom

Leslie Lawrenson, Solicitor

An anti-vaxxer who filmed himself downplaying Covid-19 before posting it on Facebook has died of the virus. Solicitor Leslie Lawrenson, 58, died at his home in Bournemouth, Dorset, nine days after he published a video on why coronavirus was “nothing to be afraid of.” Lawrenson, who reportedly had no underlying health conditions, had previously refused to take up the vaccine because he felt he “did not need it.” Instead he put faith in his immune system and took his social media followers on his journey. The 58-year-old recorded two vlogs in June, where he explained his symptoms and described them as “no worse than a cold.” He later criticised the Government’s approach to the coronavirus restrictions, saying “these are things we have to suffer, it’s part of living”, before u...

28Jul

By Web TeamNo Comments

Mexico, Profiles

René Juárez, Politician

René Juárez, one of Mexico’s few Black politicians has died after contracting COVID-19 in April. He once served as governor of the Pacific coast state of Guerrero, which, along with neighboring Oaxaca and the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, are home to much of Mexico’s relatively small Black population. He was only the second governor in Mexico of African descent. Juárez, 65, also served as party leader of the former ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, known as the PRI. Dulce Maria Sauri the head of the PRI in the lower house of Congress confirmed Juárez’s death Monday, and said it was the result of COVID-19. Sauri wrote in her social media accounts that legislators mourned the death of Juárez, “who like many Mexicans has lost the battle with COVID-19. We have lost a great ma...

26Jul

By Web TeamNo Comments

Bangladesh, Profiles

Fakir Alamgir, Singer

Bangladesh's legendary folk singer Fakir Alamgir has died due to complications from COVID-19. He was 71. According to Dhaka Tribune, the singer breathed his last at the United Hospital on Friday night and was laid to rest with state honours at Khilgaon's Taltola Graveyard. His son Mashuque Alamgir Rajeeb said that Alamgir suffered a cardiac arrest while undergoing treatment at the hospital. The veteran singer tested positive for the coronavirus after suffering from fever and cough for several days. After he complained of breathing issues, Alamgir was admitted to a local hospital. The singer was later shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at United Hospital. Born on February 21, 1950 in Faridpur, Alamgir began his music career in 1966. The singer was a key member of cu...

4Jul

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Neighbors, Profiles, Uganda

Hajj Nulu Ssemakula, polygamist

Polygamist Hajj Nulu Ssemakula Polygamist Hajj Nulu Ssemakula alias Nuuhu fathered 115 children, but barely half of them could make it to his funeral, when he passed away on July 1 at age 96 in his home of Omurusa village, Nyanga parish, Rubaare Sub County in Ntungamo District in Uganda. Ssemakula passed away at Amazing Grace Health Centre in Ntunagmo town after his blood pressure rose high. However, 64 of his children managed to attend funeral ceremony, while the remaining could not manage to make it due to Covid-19 movement restrictions announced by President Museveni last month. The attendees also included about 200 grandchildren, six wives, several relatives and religious leaders, who attended the ceremony-- despite the government restriction of limiting the number of mourner...

23Jun

By TheAdminNo Comments

India, Noteworthy, Profiles

Poovachal Khader, lyricist

Malayalam cinema lost one of its most prolific lyricists in the death of Poovachal Khader, who succumbed to COVID-19 in Thiruvananthapuram on June 22. The 72-year-old songwriter had been under treatment for COVID-19 at the Govt. Medical College. Khader, during his five-decade career, wrote more than a thousand songs for over 350 films, while being credited for some of the biggest-ever hits in Malayalam film music. His song-writing talent ensured him being one of the busiest lyricists in the 1970s and 80s, when he penned evergreen songs like “Natha nee varum kalocha” (Chamaram), “Shararanthal thiri thaazhhum” (Kayalum Kayarum), “Aadya samaagama lajjayil” (Ulsavam), “Sindoora sandhyaykku mounam” (Choola), “Ente janman neeyeduthu” (Aattakkalasam), (Itha Oru Dhikkari), “Eth...

23Jun

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India, Noteworthy, Profiles

Jayanta Naskar, politician

Trinamool Congress MLA Jayanta Naskar passed away in a hospital in Kolkata on June 19. He was 73. The MLA had tested positive for Covid-19 in May, but had been declared COVID-19 negative in another test conducted on June 18. The Gosaba MLA was initially treated at the state-run MR Bangur Hospital before being transferred to the private medical facility a few days ago due to comorbidities, hospital authorities said, adding that though he tested negative for Covid, the prolonged illness had damaged his lungs. Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee offered her condolences to the family and supporters of the deceased MLA. Expressing pain over the death of the three- time MLA from Gosaba, she stated that Naskar ...

23Jun

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India, Noteworthy, Profiles

Guruprasad Mohapatra, bureaucrat

Guruprasad Mohapatra Guruprasad Mohapatra successfully managed the distribution of emergency oxygen in India in the ongoing coronavirus scenario, but lost his own life to the dreaded disease after being hospitalized at the AIIMS in Delhi. The Gujarat cadre 1986-batch IAS officer was supposed to retire from service on 30 April, 2022. He was the head of one of the Empowered Groups to combat the Covid-19 crisis. Mohapatra, as Secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), was responsible for monitoring the supply of medical oxygen across the country under very challenging circumstances during the second wave of Covid-19. However, he contracted COVID-19 in the process of overseeing the oxygen distribution to the affected in the country, and was r...

21Jun

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India, News, Noteworthy, Profiles

Tapu Mishra, singer

Famous Odiya singer Tapu Mishra passed away due to post-COVID complications in Bhubaneshwar, family sources said on June 20. She was 36. The singer, who breathed her last on the night of June 19 at a private hospital in the Odisha’s capital, was put on ventilator support two days ago after her oxygen level dropped to 45. The lungs of Tapu, who was admitted on May 19, also suffered extensive damages The Ministry of Culture sanctioned ₹1,00,000 for her treatment from the Artiste Welfare Fund as her family members planned to shift her to Kolkata for an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) treatment, sources said. The Odiya film industry, or Ollywood, also started raising funds for the treatment of Tapu, who debuted in Odiya film Kulanandan. Tapu, who had lent her voi...

19Jun

By Web TeamNo Comments

High Profilers, India, Profiles

Milkha Singh, Indian sprint legend

Indian sprint legend Milkha Singh passed away on June 18 after a month-long battle with COVID-19. He was 91. Singh, who is survived by his golfer son Jeev Milkha Singh and three daughters, died at 11.30 p.m, a family spokesperson told media. The Padma Shri awardee had recently lost his wife -- former national volleyball captain Nirmal Kaur (85) -- to the dreaded coronavirus, when she passed away at a private hospital in Mohali. The athlete had contracted COVID-19 in May but was tested negative on May 16 before being shifted to general ICU in a hospital. However, his condition became critical with complications, including fever and dipping oxygen saturation levels. Milkha Singh, who was a four-time Asian Games gold medallist and 1958 Commonwealth Games champion,...

14Sep

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High Profilers, India, Profiles

Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, politician

Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, an Indian politician, passed away at Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on September 13, 2020, following complications arising from Coronavirus Just two days after he sent a hand-written note to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav notifying him of his decision to resign from the party after being in it for over three decades, senior party leader and former state minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh passed away from Covid-19-related complications. Singh, a lifelong fixture of the RJD, died on Sunday morning at the AIIMS. He was 74. Yadav, who had summarily rejected Singh’s resignation asking him to get well first and then talk about his future with the RJD, reacted in disbelief saying “Dear Raghuvansh ...