The former Prime Minister of Libya, Mahmoud Jibril, who has been hospitalized for two weeks has died from the corona virus. After suffering a cardiac arrest, he tested positive to corona virus three days later and was admitted into the Ganzouri Specialized Hospital in Cairo on the 21st of March.

Wagdy, the hospital director in Cairo, confirmed that Jibril was in and out of consciousness during his time in the hospital’s intensive care unit, where he had been quarantined since his admission.

Prior to his death, his health seemed to have improved as he started recovering on Friday 3rd April. However, his health started getting worse again and he eventually died at 2pm same day.

The 68-year-old who overthrew longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, was an economic adviser to the Gaddafi government in its final years, before joining the revolution in 2011. In the early days of the Libyan uprising, Jibril made several trips abroad to rally European and US support for the rebels against Gaddafi. He was interim leader until the country held its first free elections in four decades in 2012. He eventually left Libya to live abroad giving the chaos and violence that erupted in the subsequent years.

Before Jibril’s death, Libya had confirmed 18 corona virus cases in the country and one death. From the records, the first corona virus case recorded in the war-torn country was on the 24th of March 2020. Later, Libyan authorities banned travel between cities to curb the virus’ spread.

Corona virus cases in Libya are now 10 with two new patients confirmed as of Wednesday 1st of April. According to the National Anti-Disease Center, the testing of 11 samples found two positive for COVID-19 on the 1st of April 2020.

The UN has urged a suspension of hostilities in Libya to help efforts to stem the corona virus outbreak.