Coronavirus claims the lives of two 2 veteran Asian American journalists

Veteran journalists Brahm Kanchibhotla, left, and Anick Jesdanun

ASAM NEWS

Two long-time Asian American journalists passed away in New York City after being diagnosed with the coronavirus.

Brahm Kanchibhotla, a correspondent for United News of India died on the morning of April 6th after fighting against the novel coronavirus in a New York hospital for nine days.

His death follows that of 51-year old technology writer , Anick Jesdanun who died April 2.

The 66-year old Kanchibhotla emigrated to the US in 1992 after working for several publications in India. Throughout his 28-year career in the US, Kanchibhotla worked as a content editor for Merger Markets, a financial publication from 2007. He was also a senior correspondent for United News of India, a wire service based in New Delhi where he wrote about New York City’s economy and ethnic communities from 2001 to 2006.

Brahm Kanchibhotla son, Sudama Kanchibhotla told Live Mint that his father showed COVID-19 symptoms from March 23rd. Five days after his symptoms worsened, doctors admitted Brahm Kanchibhotla to a hospital on Long Island and immediately gave him an oxygen mask. His son said his father was then put on ventilator and on Monday died from cardiac arrest.

Brahman Kanchibhotla succumbed to the deadly pandemic, leaving his wife Anjana, son Sudama and daughter Siujana behind.

At the moment, the Kanchibhotlas are not sure how they will hold a funeral for Brahm because of COVID-19 restrictions in New York. “We have not set a date and it will have to be a very small gathering because only ten people are allowed at funerals,” Sudama told Live Mint.

The Asian American Journalists Association on Monday also announced the death of Jesdanun. Affectionately known as Nick, he covered technology for the Associated Press from the beginnings of the internet.

“He covered the rise of the internet with sharp insight and a sense of humor, closely reporting on the ways in which it changed our everyday lives, including his own,” said a statement from AAJA. “Nick worked at the AP bureaus in Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Washington, and was most recently based in New York.”

An avid runner, he completed 83 marathons, including one in Antarctica, reported the AP.

"Out of all the members of our family, Nick is the one who shouldn’t have succumbed to this virus," a cousin told Buzzfeed News. "But we would have been foolish to think he couldn’t."

As of Wednesday (April 8) morning, New York City, the hardest hit city in the US, reported 77,967 total cases of coronavirus, a 7.8% increase from Tuesday morning, according to city data. There have been 3,602 deaths from the virus as of Wednesday morning, 400 more than the prior day’s tally, a 12.5% jump.

Views From the Edge contributed to this report.