Community Corner
Brother Of Minnesota's Lt. Governor Dies Of Coronavirus
"COVID-19 now has a personal connection to me," Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan wrote. "Please do all you can to prevent one for you."
A family member of Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan died from the new coronavirus Saturday. Flanagan's brother, Ron, was diagnosed with cancer recently, and he then contracted COVID-19 while having a compromised immune system.
He died in Tennessee.
"Almost exactly two months after we buried our dad, my brother Ron passed away on Saturday," Flanagan posted to Instagram.
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"To many, he’ll be a statistic: Tennessee’s second COVID-related death. But to me, I’ll remember a loving, older brother, uncle, father, and husband. Ron was a tough-as-nails Marine who was a big teddy bear on the inside."
"He fought it as hard as he could but it was simply too much for his body," Flanagan added.
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This month, Flanagan and Gov. Tim Walz have been encouraging Minnesotans to stay home and avoid spreading COVID-19. Flanagan says her brother's passing shows why self-quarantining is so important.
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"THIS is why we must #StayHome 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," she wrote. "COVID-19 now has a personal connection to me. Please do all you can to prevent one for you."
The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 increased to 169 in Minnesota Sunday. On Saturday, the Minnesota Department of Health announced the state's first COVID-19-related death. The patient was a Ramsey County resident in their 80s. She died on March 19.
Walz signed an executive order last week enacting the temporary closure of all Minnesota restaurants and bars to dine-in customers. He also ordered the temporary closure of public places, including theaters, museums, fitness centers, and community clubs.
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