A famous actress, a legendary playwright, and a game-changing chef — here are the celebrities and notable figures around the world who are believed to have died of the novel coronavirus so far Playwright Terrence McNally appears in a portrait taken in his home on March 2, 2020, in New York City. He died of an illness related to the coronavirus three weeks later. The spread of the novel coronavirus has led to more than 19,600 deaths around the world, including some celebrities and well-known people. Prominent figures like American playwright Terrence McNally and Italian actress Lucia Bosè are believed to have died from illnesses related to the virus. Here are all the celebrities and notable people around the world that are believed to have died of illnesses related to the novel coronavirus so far. Li Wenliang, a Chinese doctor that tried to warn medics of the novel coronavirus and contracted it while treating patients in Wuhan, China, died of the virus on February 7. Li Wenliang wears a respirator mask, following the coronavirus outbreak, in Wuhan, China, on Feb. 3, 2020. Terrence McNally, a Tony Award-winning American playwright, died on March 24 of health complications related to the coronavirus. McNally was a lung cancer survivor living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Terrence McNally speaks onstage during the 2019 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York on June 9, 2019. Nashom Wooden, known by the drag community as Mona Foot, died at 50 on March 23 of an illness that was believed to be the novel coronavirus, although it was not confirmed. While Wooden lived with HIV for several years, it had dropped to undetectable levels before he died. Mona Foot performs onstage during Wigstock 2018 at Pier 17 in New York on Sept. 1, 2018. Lucia Bosè, an Italian actress, died at 89 of pneumonia on March 23, and a Spanish news outlet called 5TeleCinco reported that she was infected with COVID-19. The Italian actress Lucia Bosé during the filming of the TV show "Double Image" in the garden of her home in Madrid in 1969. Chef Floyd Cardoz, 59, of Tabla and Bombay Bread Bar died of health complications related to the novel coronavirus on March 25. Eater NY described him as a "force in New York's restaurant community." Chef Floyd Cardoz with Kerala style banana leaf salmon from Paowalla at the New York Taste on Nov. 1, 2016. Source
