Burundi Leader Might Be First World Leader To Die from the Coronavirus

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Burundi announces the death of President Pierre Nkurunziza from a heart attack but there are reports circulating that he died due to COVID-19.
• The African nation is one of the countries that have not set regulations to control the outbreak. 
• Nkurunziza, who’s been ruling Burundi for the past 15 years, was reportedly the first world leader to succumb from the novel coronavirus.  

Weeks before stepping down as Burundi’s leader, President Pierre Nkurunziza has died after being infected with the coronavirus, according to reports. If rumors were true, Nkurunziza would be the first world leader to die from Covid-19.

The African nation of Burundi was about to swear in a new president-elect, Evariste Ndayishimiye, who won the recent election in May.

The 55-year-old incumbent president reportedly fell ill over the weekend and was waiting for the needed ventilator when he suffered a heart attack.

Opposition sources say that the heart attack may have stemmed from or a complication from the coronavirus. His wife, Denise Bucumi, suffered symptoms of the coronavirus and was being treated in Nairobi, Kenya and may have transmitted the coronavirus to her husband.

“When Nkurunziza’s wife was flown to Kenya suffering from COVID-19, many in Burundi suspected the president himself was sick,” said Justin Nyabenda, a resident in Bujumbura.

According to a World Bank census, Burundi has a population of 11.18 million and has reported only 83 cases of the coronavirus with only one death.

The lack of cases is being attributed by the Burundi people to their faith. Nkurunziza’s spokesman said, “Burundi is an exception because it is a country that has put God first.”

Burundi is one of the few nations in the world that has not set regulations to try and stop the spread of the coronavirus.

After 15 years of ruling Burundi, Nkurunziza was set to step down from office in August. The announcement came 24 hours after his death. 

Source: New York Post