Veteran CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury, took to his Twitter account on Thursday to announce that his elder son Ashish died of Covid 19. Ashish Yechury, who would have turned 35 on June 9, was said to have been recovering well at Gurgaon's Medanta Hospital. Those close to the family said Ashish’s sudden death after a two-week battle with the disease came as a shock to them.
"It is with great sadness that I have to inform that I lost my elder son, Ashish Yechury to Covid-19 this morning. I want to thank all those who gave us hope and who treated him - doctors, nurses, frontline health workers, sanitation workers and innumerable others who stood by us," Yechury said on Twitter.
Ashish, a journalist, worked in several publications before moving to Pune.
The CPI(M) Politburo issued a statement announcing the death and offering its condolences to the family.
"The Polit Bureau conveys it deepest condolences to Sitaram and Indrani, his wife Swati, his sister Akhila and all other members of the bereaved family," the statement said.
Condolences for the family also poured in on social media as news broke of his death.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent his condolences to the Yechury family on the 'tragic and untimely demise' of their older son.
"Condolences to Shri Sitaram Yechury Ji and his family on the tragic and untimely demise of his son, Ashish. Om Shanti," he tweeted.
Taking to Twitter, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also condoled the death of Ashish Yechury.
"Deeply saddened and pained to hear about the loss of Ashish Yechury. I offer my heartfelt condolences to Comrade @SitaramYechury, his family and friends at this difficult time," tweeted DMK leader MK Stalin.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who has been tested Covid positive said he was devastated by the news.
"There is no greater loss for a parent to endure. May you find the strength to bear the inexpressible grief of your loss. My heart goes out to you at this painful time."
Tharoor said in a Facebook post that he had to wait for two days for a Covid-19 test and one and half a day to get the results.
“After waiting two days for a test appointment and another day and a half for the results, I finally have confirmation: I’m #Covid positive. Hoping to deal with it in a “positive” frame of mind, with rest, steam and plenty of fluids. My sister and 85 year-old-mother are in the same boat,” he said in a Facebook post.
Tharoor also pointed out that despite his sister and mother getting vaccinated, they tested Covid-19 positive. “Folks should know that my sister has had two doses of the Pfizer vaccine in California and my mother and I took our second Covishield shot on April 8. So we have every reason to hope that though vaccines cannot prevent infection, they will moderate the impact of the Covid virus,” he added.
Meanwhile, according to a mathematical model developed by a team of scientists from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, India's second Covid wave is likely between May 11-15 with 33-35 lakh active cases.
The current model shows that Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Telangana may see a peak of 'new' cases during April 25-30; Odisha, Karnataka and West Bengal during May 1-5 while Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh during May 6-10. It shows Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh might already have reached its peak phase now while Bihar will see it around April 25. Though cases of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala and Goa are also being tracked, the model has not converged on them so the scientists would like to wait for a few more days to arrive at the prediction.
