US congressman-elect, to be sworn-in Sunday, dies of COVID-19

A newly elected U.S. congressman, Luke Letlow, due to be sworn into office on Sunday has died on Tuesday night shortly after testing positive for the Coronavirus.

A Wednesday post on the Republican party Facebook page made this known.

“Congressman-elect Luke Letlow, 41, passed away this evening at Ochsner-LSU Health Shreveport due to complications from COVID-19, ” the statement reads.

The 41-year-old Congressman-elect who is survived by a wife and two children was admitted to the hospital on Dec. 19 after testing positive and he was placed in intensive care three days later.

Read also: US lawmaker bemoans Nigeria’s electoral process

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said he ordered flags to be flown at half-staff on the day of Letlow’s funeral, which is yet to be announced.

“Louisiana has lost more than 7,300 people to COVID-19 since March, and each one of them leaves a tremendous hole in our state,” Edwards said as he offered his condolences to the congressman-elect’s family.

Regarding the funeral, Letlow’s spokesman Andrew Bausch said “A statement from the family along with funeral arrangements will be announced at a later time,” AP reported.

According to the Johns Hopkins University, there are over 19 million confirmed cases of coronavirus.

More than 338,000 people have died in the U.S. from COVID-19.

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