Karim Kamalov

Karim Dzhamalovich Kamalov, also spelled Karim Djamalovich Kamalov (1954[1] – 22 August 2020), was an Uzbek politician. He served as the Hokim, or Mayor, of Bukhara from 1997 until 2011 and again from August 2017 until February 2020.[1] On 29 February 2020, Kamalov was appointed acting Khokim of Bukhara Region, a gubernatorial office he held until his death on 22 August 2020, from COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Uzbekistan.[1][2] The Khokim is the equivalent of a regional governor in Uzbekistan.

Kamalov also served as a deputy in the Legislative Chamber of Uzbekistan from 1999 until 2004, representing the 49th district, which is based in the city of Bukhara.[3]

Kamalov was born in 1954.[1][2] He graduated from the Bukhara Engineering and Technological Institute.[1][2] Kamalov was the recipient of the national Mekhnat Shukhrati (awarded on 29 August 2019) and Dustlik awards.[2]

Governor Kamalov was diagnosed with COVID-19 on 25 July 2020. He died from COVID-19 at AKFA Medline Hospital in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on 22 August 2020, at the age of 66.[1][4]

Kamalov was the latest in a series of Uzbek government officials to be stricken with COVID-19. Yorkin Tursunov, the national Deputy Minister of Finance, also died from COVID-19 on 28 July 2020. Uktam Barnoev, the Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan and another former Khokim (Governor) of the Bukhara Region, also tested positive for coronavirus and died on 20 September.[5]