Indian doctor in Kuwait dies from COVID-19

Dubai: An Indian dentist in Kuwait has died from the novel coronavirus, becoming the country’s second medical professional to succumb to COVID-19, according to a media report.

Dr Vasudeva Rao, 54, died on Saturday, May 9 in Jaber hospital where he was undergoing treatment for coronavirus infection, news website timeskuwait.com reported.

A resident of Kuwait for about 15 years, Rao worked as an endodontist at Kuwait Oil Company, a subsidiary of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, a government-owned company.

Rao was a member of the Indian Dentists’ Alliance in Kuwait, an organization of Indian dental professionals in Kuwait. The organization mourned his loss.

On Friday, Egyptian ENT specialist Tareq Hussain Mokheimer died of COVID-19, becoming Kuwait’s first such medical fatality, the Gulf News reported.

Mokheimer, 62, had worked in Kuwait for more than 20 years. A total of 171 people arrived in Chennai from Kuwait on Sunday as part of the government’s Vande Bharat Mission to bring home Indian nationals stranded in various countries.

Kuwait has reported 58 deaths and 8,688 infections due to the novel coronavirus. Globally, the death toll due to COVID-19 has gone up to 282,727 with over four million infections reported so far, according to Johns Hopkins University tally.