Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
Sep 29, 2021 News
Kaieteur News – Chief Public Relations (PR) Officer for the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change Coalition (APNU+AFC) party, Imran Khan, has succumbed to complications arising from the COVID-19 virus.
Kaieteur News understands that Khan, 43, died yesterday while he was under observation and treatment at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the COVID-19 Infectious Disease Hospital at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.
Health officials confirmed that Khan, a former Head of the Department of Public Information (DPI) and Director of Public Information at the Office of the President was unvaccinated at the time of his death.
Khan was reportedly rushed to the COVID-19 Hospital on the September 15, days after he tested positive for the virus and encountered trouble breathing.
Two days before he passed, the Coalition PR Officer was active on social media.
He offered thanks to the persons who were praying for his recovery.
“Thank you for all your love, prayers, messages of encouragement and support. I am overwhelmed beyond explanation and I am in excellent spirits…Please be assured that I am fighting and there is no giving up. One Love,” he said.
Khan‘s death comes as a shock to many of his close family, friends, colleagues and those in the media fraternity. Moments after news of his passing became public; tributes started pouring in, with many persons expressing their shock and grief.
A relative of Khan related in a Facebook post that he was taking some precautions to avoid contracting the deadly virus. The relative noted that Khan was not taking part in any in person meetings, only virtual ones but that he was forced to leave his home to attend a brief meeting and that is when it is believed that he became infected with the virus.
Leader of the Opposition, Joseph Harmon, expressed sadness at the loss of his Communications Officer and friend. “It is with a heavy heart that I write on my own behalf and that of the APNU+AFC Coalition to announce the untimely death of our friend and colleague, Imran Khan, who served as Communications Director in the Office of the Leader of the Opposition up to today,” Harmon said in a statement.
“To his wife, Tamara, and other family members we offer our deepest condolences and regret.” Harmon added, “When we read his upbeat note on Sunday asking for a fruit salad and praising coconut water, we assumed he had passed the worst and was well on the way to recovery. The suddenness of his death some hours later attributed to acute respiratory failure has been a terrible shock to us all.”
Expressing similar sentiments, Former Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, said that Khan served as one of his closest allies during the Coalition’s time in office.
“It is hard to believe much less accept that Imran Khan has died. Guyana has lost a brilliant light, snuffed out by the COVID-19 killer disease. This is indeed the dark time for all of us who have known and loved Imran,” he said.
Khan was an active member of the Alliance For Change (AFC) at the time of his death. The party issued a statement expressing bereavement.
“It is with deep sadness and tremendous pain that the Alliance For Change regrets the passing of one of its finest members, Imran Khan. Imran was a committed member of the AFC and later the APNU+AFC Coalition who epitomised some exceptional qualities – youth, commitment, enthusiasm and resistance,” the AFC said in the statement.
The party noted that Guyana was everything to Imran Khan.
The AFC added that prior to 2015; Khan remigrated from Antigua to “contribute to the struggle” as he would often say.
“He joined the Alliance For Change and brought his exceptional knowledge of the media and public relations environment to the day-to-day operations of our small Party allowing us to “bat above our league. His unmatched creativity, knowledge of the digital media environment and excellent writing skills were seen in two election campaigns, and while he managed the Department of Public Information which he rebranded and reorganised in 2015 as its’ Director of Public Information,” the AFC said in its statement.
Additionally, in its tribute, the party noted that “Imran loved the simple things in life, gaffing with ordinary citizens wherever he encountered them and was a true friend to many.”
The AFC said that his passing is a tragic loss of monumental proportions.
“The Alliance For Change expresses sincere condolences to his family and friends,” the statement concluded.
Khan’s death comes at a time when Guyana is recording a rapid rise in the number of COVID-19 infections and an increasing number of deaths as a result of the disease. For yesterday, alone, the Ministry of Health recorded six deaths inclusive of Khan’s. The Ministry also reported 123 new infections as a result of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Meanwhile, Kaieteur News understands that Khan’s wife, Attorney-at-Law, Tamara Khan, is also among 31 persons receiving critical care at the COVID-19 ICU. This newspaper also confirmed that popular television station owner and host, Chandra Narine Sharma, 73, is also battling the deadly virus. His son, Mahendra Sharma, confirmed last evening, that he is also a patient at the COVID-19 Hospital at Liliendaal.
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