Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan says her brother has died from COVID-19
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan speaks at Thursday's event.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan says her older brother, Ron, died over the weekend after contracting COVID-19.
Flanagan shared the news in an Instagram post Sunday night.
“To many, he’ll be a statistic: Tennessee’s second COVID-related death,” she wrote. “But to me, I’ll remember a loving, older brother, uncle, father and husband.”
Flanagan said her brother, who had been diagnosed with cancer several weeks ago, had a compromised immune system and contracted COVID-19. He was put in a medically-induced coma and placed on a ventilator. He died on Saturday.
“THIS is why we must #StayHome,” Flanagan said. “If you feel fine, that’s great. But please consider the possibility that you’re carrying the virus and don’t know it, and then you walk past the next Ron, my big brother, in public. COVID-19 now has a personal connection to me. Please do all you can to prevent one for you.”
As of Monday morning, 471 people, including one Minnesotan, have died from the coronavirus in the United States. More than 35,200 confirmed cases of the illness have been reported so far, 169 of which are in Minnesota.