Somalia has entered a three-day mourning period after Nur Hassan Hussein, the former prime minister, died in a London hospital on Wednesday after contracting the new coronavirus.He was 83.
Popularly known as Nur Adde, he was the East African country's prime minister from November 2007 to February 2009.
"Recognising the efforts made by the deceased for his country and his people, I hereby declare three days of national mourning, lowering of the flag of the Federal Republic of Somalia to half mast, to give Prime Minister Nur Adde the respect he deserves," President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo said in a statement late on Wednesday.
Born in Mogadishu in 1937, when the southern part of the country was under Italian rule, Hussein was educated in the city before joining the police force when the country gained independence in 1960.
After leaving the force, he worked for the Somali Red Crescent. He also served as the Horn of Africa country's ambassador in Italy.
Hussein's family said the former leader will be buried in London.
In a statement, the family said he had been receiving treatment at King's College Hospital for the past two weeks.
Gita Ramjee, a world-renowned scientist from South Africa, has died due to the coronavirus.
Ramjee died on Tuesday a hospital in Durban on the East Coast, according to local media reports. She was 64.
"Professor Ramjee was renowned for her work on finding HIV prevention methods that were conducive to the lifestyles, circumstances and perceived risk factors that South African women face, as well as attempts to find an effective HIV vaccine," Deputy President David Mabuza said in a statement on Wednesday.
"We have indeed lost a champion in the fight against the HIV epidemic, ironically at the hands of this global pandemic."
Ramjee returned to South Africa recently after a trip to London. She did not have any symptoms but fell sick and was admitted to a hospital.
Tributes and condolence messages have been pouring in from across the globe where her work affected millions.
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