Father of Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar dies from Coronavirus Complications

• The father of Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar has passed away due to COVID-19 complications.
• Omar announced the tragic news on Monday, asking for respect and privacy.
• The deadly virus has claimed more than 116,000 lives in the United States.

The father of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) has passed away due to COVID-19 complications.

Omar announced the tragic news on Monday in a Twitter post that read, “It is with tremendous sadness and pain that I share that my father, Nur Omar Mohamed, passed away today due to complications from COVID-19. No words can describe what he meant to me and all who knew him.”

إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ

Surely we belong to God and to him shall we return.

It is with tremendous sadness and pain to say goodbye to my father, Nur Omar Mohamed. No words can describe what he meant to me and all who knew and loved him. pic.twitter.com/gb7q0gMXG2— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) June 16, 2020

“My family and I ask for your respect and privacy during this time,” Omar added in a statement obtained by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

The deadly virus has claimed more than 116,000 lives in the United States. There have been more than 2.1 million cases of the disease nationwide.

Several other prominent lawmakers had relatives who suffered from the disease. Don Reed Herring, the older brother of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) passed away from the coronavirus in April. The husband of Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) also struggled with the disease before ultimately recovering.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has continued to urge states to reopen businesses to revive their economies, despite the renewed spike in the number of cases.

But the president pointed out on Monday that the increase in cases can be attributed to increased testing in the U.S.

“Our testing is so much bigger and more advanced than any other country (we have done a great job on this!) that it shows more cases. Without testing, or weak testing, we would be showing almost no cases. Testing is a double edged sword – Makes us look bad, but good to have!!!” the president remarked on Twitter.

Several leading health officials have warned that reopening too soon could lead to a second wave of cases.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, warned that the pandemic was far from over, especially since we are still “at the beginning of really understanding” the virus.

Some states have already heeded the warnings. Utah and Oregon have delayed reopening efforts after cases of the coronavirus spiked. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) also warned that reopenings in some regions will be reversed after receiving more than 25,000 complaints about businesses violating social distancing guidelines.

Source: Aol.com