Louisiana-based deputy Luke Letlow, who died while fighting COVID-19, suffered a heart attack after a procedure, a hospital official said.
The 41-year-old man was receiving treatment at the Ochsner LSU Health intensive care unit in Shreveport when he died on Tuesday, the Monroe News-Star reported.
LSU Health Shreveport Chancellor GE Ghali confirmed that Letlow underwent a virus-related operation and later had cardiac arrest.
“It is devastating for our entire team,” Ghali told the newspaper, adding that “he had no underlying conditions”.
The Republican announced that he tested positive for the virus on December 18 and said he was quarantined at his home in Richland Parish.
But his health began to deteriorate, and on December 19, he was admitted to the St. Francis Medical Center and later transferred to Ochsner LSU Health.
Letlow leaves his wife, Julia Barnhill Letlow, in addition to their two children, Jeremiah, 3, and Jacqueline, 11 months, the newspaper reported.
“The family thanks the countless prayers and support in the last few days, but asks for privacy during this difficult and unexpected period,” Letlow’s spokesman Andrew Bautsch said in a statement to the Monroe News-Star.
Letlow was nominated for Congress on Sunday after winning the Pelican State 5th district seat in a runoff run on December 5.