Governor of Kurdistan Region’s capital Erbil dies from COVID-19 aged 42

Firsat Sofi, the governor of Erbil, has passed away at 42 due to health complications after he contracted COVID-19 in late October, the city’s mayor confirmed on Wednesday.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Firsat Sofi, the governor of Erbil, has passed away at 42 due to health complications after he contracted COVID-19 in late October, the city’s mayor confirmed on Wednesday.

Nabaz Hamid, the mayor of Erbil, told Kurdistan 24 on early Wednesday morning that the city’s governor died from COVID-19 after he tested positive on Oct. 20. He died in Ankara, Turkey, where he was receiving treatment at the Memorial Hospital.

Soon after the announcement of his death, the governors of Sulaimani and Duhok extended their condolences to Sofi’s family.

“Sofi was an honest and hard-working individual,” Ali Tatar, the governor of Duhok, wrote in his statement.

Governor Sofi, the 41st governor of Erbil, was the head of the COVID-19 Task Force and led efforts to combat the pandemic since its emergence in early March. The city had the least number of cases in the region for a while before restrictions were eased and it witnessed an alarming surge in infections.

The city now has over 33,000 coronavirus cases, the highest figures among the Kurdistan Region’s provinces. The city’s death toll stands at 798 as of Wednesday.

In mid-October 2019, Sofi assumed the governorship of Erbil city, after he served as a member of the Kurdistan Parliament. Sofi also used to be a lecturer at Erbil polytechnical university.

He was born in 1978 in the Gazne district of Erbil and is now survived by four children.

While Sofi was admitted to the hospital, his deputy Hemn Qadir assumed the governorship.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany