U.S. Congressman-elect dies days before swearing-in

A newly elected U.S. congressman, Luke Letlow has died shortly after testing positive for the Coronavirus (COVID-19).
A Wednesday post on the Republican politician’s Facebook page read: “Congressman-elect Luke Letlow, 41, passed away this evening at Ochsner-LSU Health Shreveport due to complications from COVID-19.”
The 41-year-old was admitted to the hospital on December 19 after testing positive.
Three days later he was placed in intensive care.
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.
Mr. Letlow, who was due to be sworn into office on Sunday following his recent electoral victory, is survived by his wife and two young children.
There are currently more than 19 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The number of cases in the U.S. exceeds that of any other country, and the number is expected to increase following the holiday season.
More than 338,000 people have died in the U.S. from COVID-19.
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette

Agriculture
FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology
The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices

Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

Heading 1
Canadian authorities charged two men for defrauding international students $126,000; hunt fleeing suspect
CBSA officers executed search warrants at the suspects’ homes and businesses, where electronic devices containing the evidence of their fraudulent activities were recovered.

Hot news Home top
Spain beat Belgium 2-1, face France in World Cup semi-finals Tuesday
The European champions move on to the semi-finals against back-to-back finalists France on Tuesday at Dallas Stadium.

NationWide
Focus on criminals, stop targeting journalists, CPJ tells Nigerian security agencies
She also pointed out harsh bail requirements imposed on journalists, describing Mr Ugagbe’s bail conditions as “utterly punitive.”

Education
Tinubu upgrades Nasarawa poly to university
Mr Onanuga said the approval followed a proposal by Senator Ahmed Aliyu, who represents the Nasarawa West Senatorial District.

Lagos
Lagos govt signs agreement to automate vehicle registration
Mr Osiyemi said the initiative would simplify and speed up vehicle registration by eliminating cumbersome processes.

States
Three rescued, one body recovered as building collapses in Kano
The PRO attributed the collapse to the use of poor and substandard building materials.





