Back in early May, when the pandemic had just started in Mexico, businessman José Kuri Harfush, member of the board of directors of Inbursa Financial Group, was diagnosed with COVID-19. 

According to Proceso, Kuri Harfush contracted the disease in May during a business trip he made to Vail, Colorado alongside other Mexican entrepreneurs.

The group was also included by Jaime Ruiz Sacristán, who also died for COVID-19 on April 12.  

Since the Mexican businessman was diagnosed positive and hospitalized with COVID-19, several rumors regarding his death have come out. However, the fake news had been quickly dismissed by the Health Ministry. 

However, after more than four months of hospitalization in critical care, José Kuri Harfush died at the age of 71 as a result of COVID-19 complications. 

The news was made official Sunday night through the Twitter account of Mexico’s Chancellor, Marcelo Ebrad.

Apart from Kuri Harfush’s role at Inbursa Financial Group, the businessman and Carlos Slim’s cousin, was a key member of Slim’s business group. 

Besides his role as a business strategist in seven of his companies and also stakeholder in other 16 of them, Kuri Harfush was the proprietary advisor in Carso Group, with more than 10 years working as the CEO of the audit committee at Telmex.

Another public figure that sent condolences to Kuri’s family through his Twitter account was ex-secretary director Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong.

José Kuri Harfush joins the list of deaths by COVID-19 in Mexico, that as of July 26, reported more than 43,000 losses.