Uruguay reports first coronavirus-linked death

By : AFP

Date: 29 March 2020 4:22pm WAT

Picture released by adhoc news agency showing Uruguay's Health Minister Daniel Salinas (L) and Foreign Minister Ernesto Talvi greeting each other with an elbow bump as Defence Minister Javier Garcia (R) looks on during the arrival of a group of Uruguayans who were stranded in Peru due to the closing of borders to fight the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19, at Carrasco International Airport near Ciudad de la Costa in Canelones Department, just east of Montevideo, on March 22, 2020. (Photo by Nicolas CELAYA / adhoc / AFP) / Uruguay OUT / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO/ ADHOC / NICOLAS CELAYA" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Uruguay reported its first death linked to the novel coronavirus on Saturday, a former minister and ally of the ruling party, the government said.

“With deep sadness, we announce the first death due to coronavirus in Uruguay,” Secretary of the Presidency Alvaro Delgado told a press conference, naming the victim as Rodolfo Gonzalez Rissotto.

Gonzalez Rissotto was one of nine patients with the coronavirus who were in intensive care, Delgado said, adding his death was “all the more reason to reinforce the request to everyone to take care of themselves and stay home.”

President Luis Lacalle Pou paid tribute in a tweet.