FAO mourns employee dead from Coronavirus

FAO is illuminating its headquarters in Rome with the green-white-red colours of the Italian "Tricolore" flag. PHOTO CREDIT: FAO

    ROME - An FAO employee from the UN agency's headquarters staff who was infected with Covid 19 has died of the virus, FAO sources said. The staffer, a member of the maintenance department who recently received an FAO medal for 25 years service, died on Saturday, said the sources.

 The new FAO chef de cabinet sent out a bulletin about the death of their colleague to staff, most of whom have been working from home for the past three weeks. FAO DG Qu Dongyu in a tweet identified the dead man as Adrian Kazazi. 
 
 The UN flag on FAO's almost-empty Rome headquarters was lowered to half mast and FAO security guards held a brief ceremony to honour his memory, the sources said.
 
 Qu Dongyu announced earlier this month he was isolating for two weeks at home after attending a conference where another participant had tested positive for Coronavirus.
 
 World Food Proramme Executive Director David Beasley disclosed earlier his month that he had tested positive for Covid 19 and was isolating at his home in South Carolina.
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