Top 10 Notable People Who Have Died Of Coronavirus

If you were alive in 2020 (and reading this, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess you were), you remember how the early pandemic felt:
equal parts confusion, dread, and a weird amount of sourdough content. The numbers were shocking, the rules kept changing, and then the headlines
started landing with a different kind of weightnames we recognized.

It’s uncomfortable to turn loss into a “Top 10,” so let’s be clear about the intent: this is not trivia night material.
This is a Listverse-style roundup meant to humanize a history-changing event by looking at ten notable people whose deaths were reported as
caused by COVID-19 or complications after contracting the virus. Each story is a reminder that a pandemic doesn’t care about fame, talent,
or how iconic your IMDb page is.

A quick (non-boring) refresher on what COVID-19 isand why it hit so hard

COVID-19 is the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, a respiratory virus that primarily spreads through infectious particles people release when they
breathe, talk, sing, cough, or sneezeespecially in indoor spaces where those particles can build up. One of the most frustrating features of
the virus is that people can spread it even if they feel fine, which helped it move fast and quietly in the early months.

While many people recover, risk isn’t evenly distributed. Severe outcomes are more common in older adults and in people with certain underlying
conditions (including weakened immune systems and chronic illnesses). That reality shows up repeatedly in the stories belowalongside another
theme: timing. Many of these deaths occurred before testing, treatments, and vaccines were widely available, when hospitals and families were
still learning the rules of a new kind of emergency.

Top 10 notable people whose deaths were reported as COVID-19 related

10) Joe Diffie (Country singer, hitmaker)

Joe Diffie had the kind of career that soundtracked a lot of America’s backroadsmultiple No. 1 country hits, a signature baritone,
and enough chart success to make “’90s country” feel like a permanent season. In March 2020, Diffie publicly shared that he had tested
positive for COVID-19. Soon after, reports confirmed that he died at age 61 due to complications related to the virus.

His death landed early in the U.S. outbreak, when the public was still recalibrating what “serious” meant. For many fans, it was a gut-check:
this wasn’t a distant news story anymoreit was in the soundtrack of their lives.

9) Floyd Cardoz (Chef, restaurateur, “Top Chef Masters” winner)

Floyd Cardoz was celebrated for bringing bold, thoughtful cooking to both New York City and India. He won “Top Chef Masters,” earned a devoted
following, and helped diners fall in love with flavors they didn’t always know how to pronouncethen brag about them anyway.

In March 2020, Cardoz was reported to have died at age 59 from complications of COVID-19. His death hit the restaurant world especially hard,
because hospitality work depends on closenessshared air, shared space, shared everythingand the industry was one of the first to be disrupted
and one of the last to feel “normal” again.

8) Maria Mercader (CBS News journalist and longtime producer)

Maria Mercader spent decades behind the scenes helping millions of people understand the worldbreaking news, human stories, the relentless
rhythm of journalism. In late March 2020, CBS News reported that Mercader died at age 54 from coronavirus in a New York hospital.

Her story also highlighted something the early headlines didn’t always explain well: many people facing COVID-19 weren’t starting from a
perfectly clean slate. Mercader had endured serious health challenges for years, and her death became a painful example of how the virus
could be especially dangerous when it collided with long-term illness.

7) Terrence McNally (Playwright, librettist, American theater giant)

Terrence McNally helped shape modern American theater with plays and musicals that were big-hearted, sharp-edged, and unafraid of intimacy.
He earned multiple Tony Awards and built a legacy that stretched from Broadway to community stages everywhere a spotlight can be found.

In March 2020, news outlets reported that McNally died at 81 from complications related to COVID-19. The theater communityalready going dark as
venues closedlost one of its defining voices at the exact moment live performance became impossible. The symbolism wasn’t planned, but it was
devastatingly on-theme.

6) Princess María Teresa of Bourbon-Parma (Activist royal often called the “Red Princess”)

Princess María Teresa of Bourbon-Parma was not the “wave-from-a-balcony” type of royal. She was known for outspoken views, activism, and an
intellectual approach to public lifeearning her the nickname “Red Princess” in some coverage. In late March 2020, she was reported to have died
from COVID-19 at age 86.

In the early pandemic, stories like hers traveled quickly because they collided with a common assumption: that wealth and status can buy distance
from danger. Her death didn’t just make newsit punctured a comforting myth.

5) Nashom Wooden (Performer and drag legend “Mona Foot”)

Nashom Woodenknown to many as Mona Footwas part of the creative bloodstream of downtown New York. Performers like him don’t just entertain;
they build scenes, create spaces, and give communities their language, fashion, and courage.

In March 2020, outlets reported that Wooden died of COVID-19 in New York City. His loss resonated as a portrait of the pandemic’s early
epicenters: dense cities, packed venues, and communities suddenly told the safest place to be was apart.

4) Manu Dibango (Saxophonist, global music pioneer)

Manu Dibango’s music traveled across borders the way great grooves doeffortlessly. His saxophone helped shape Afro-funk and brought international
attention to sounds that Western audiences too often treated like “discoveries” instead of legacies.

In March 2020, reports confirmed that Dibango died after contracting COVID-19, at age 86. His death underscored the pandemic’s global reach:
this wasn’t a “somewhere else” crisis. It was a worldwide interruption of art, culture, and everyday lifeon every continent, in every genre.

3) Lucia Bosè (Actress and former Miss Italia)

Lucia Bosè lived many lives in one: beauty queen, film star, and cultural figure tied to landmark European cinema. She acted in classics, worked
with major directors, and stayed part of the public imagination for decades.

In March 2020, multiple outlets reported that Bosè died at 89 of pneumonia after contracting COVID-19. Her death reflected a brutal pattern seen
early and often: older adults faced higher risk, and respiratory complications could move quickly once the illness took hold.

2) Daniel Azulay (Brazilian children’s artist and educator)

Daniel Azulay was beloved in Brazil for teaching kids how to createdrawing, building, imagining. His work made art feel accessible, not precious.
That matters, especially in chaotic times: creative education isn’t just enrichment; it’s how people learn to think, solve, and cope.

In March 2020, Azulay was reported to have died at 72 after contracting COVID-19 while dealing with serious health challenges. His story was another
reminder that the virus often struck hardest at the intersection of exposure and vulnerabilitywhere medical fragility meets a fast-moving outbreak.

1) Dr. Li Wenliang (Ophthalmologist and early whistleblower)

Dr. Li Wenliang became one of the most symbolic figures of the pandemic’s beginning. In late 2019, he warned colleagues about a SARS-like illness
emerging in Wuhan. Reports later described how he was reprimanded for “spreading rumors,” only for the outbreak to become the defining global event
of the decade.

Dr. Li contracted the virus and was reported to have died in February 2020 at age 34. His story sits at the uncomfortable crossroads of public
health and public trust: when early warnings are ignoredor punishedtime is lost, and time is everything in an outbreak.

What these stories reveal (beyond the headlines)

Put these ten together and you get more than a listyou get a map of how pandemics collide with real life:

• Timing matters. Many deaths happened before strong testing access, established treatments, or widespread vaccination.
• Risk isn’t evenly shared. Older age and underlying conditions repeatedly show up as risk amplifiers.
• Culture is a contact sport. Music, theater, restaurants, nightlife, journalismthese are human industries built on presence.
• Information saves lives. Early reporting and transparency can change outcomes; silence and delay can magnify harm.

It’s also worth noting that “died of COVID” can be reported in different ways“from COVID,” “with COVID,” “complications after infection.”
Those phrases often reflect how medicine and reporting work under pressure. The respectful approach is to stick to what credible reporting confirms
and avoid turning uncertainty into rumor.

Extra: 500-ish words on shared experiences around COVID loss

Even if you never met any of the people above, you probably recognize the emotional geography around their storiesbecause the pandemic gave many
of us similar experiences, just with different names attached.

One of the strangest, most painful shifts was how grief itself had to change shape. In many places, hospital visits were restricted. Families
said goodbye through phone screens, or not at all. Funerals became livestream links. Mourningnormally a group activity with food, hugs, and
uncomfortable folding chairsturned into something solitary, quieter, and in some cases delayed for months. People described the same feeling:
the loss was real, but the rituals that help the brain accept it were missing.

Another shared experience was the whiplash of information. Early on, guidance evolved as scientists learned more about transmission, masks,
ventilation, and risk. For everyday people, that sometimes felt like the rules were “changing,” when the reality was that knowledge was arriving
in real time. That gapbetween what we wanted (certainty) and what we had (best current evidence)created stress, conflict, and fatigue. Families
argued over weddings, holidays, and whether opening a window was “enough.” A lot of friendships survived on the strength of one sentence:
“We’re trying to do our best with what we know today.”

And then there were the small, oddly tender experiences: neighbors leaving groceries on porches. Teachers learning entirely new ways to reach kids.
Restaurant workers reinventing takeout overnight. Artists performing from living rooms. People who had never said “I love you” out loud suddenly
ending phone calls with it, as if the words could function like a seatbelt.

If there’s a lesson in these experiences, it’s not a single moralit’s a reality check. Public health isn’t only about hospitals and policies.
It’s also about trust, communication, and the everyday decisions that determine whose air we share. Remembering notable people who died of COVID-19
can feel heavy, but it can also be clarifying: behind every statistic is a life with plans, people, and unfinished sentences.

Conclusion

The pandemic era will always be measured in case curves and policy timelines, but it’s remembered through human stories. These ten livesspanning
music, theater, journalism, activism, and medicineshow how widely COVID-19 reached and how suddenly it could change everything. The most respectful
takeaway isn’t fear. It’s attention: to credible information, to vulnerable communities, and to the fact that “public health” is something we all
participate in, whether we meant to or not.