With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting various countries across the globe, people are seeing an economic fallout following the closures of businesses and services.
Thomas Schaefer, a Finance Minister of the Hesse state in Germany, was reported to have committed suicide over the past weekend. According to the Straits Times, Mr Schaefer was “deeply worried” over how to cope with the economic fallout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The body of the 54-year-old Minister was found near a railway track on Saturday (28 March) and the Wiesbaden prosecution’s office said they believe the cause of death was suicide.
Voulker Bouffier, the Minister-President of Hasse, stated that not only they were sad and in shock, but also in disbelief upon hearing about Mr Schaefer’s death.
“We are in shock, we are in disbelief and, above all, we are immensely sad,” Mr Bouffier said in a recorded statement yesterday (29 March).
Mr Bouffier added that the late Mr Schaefer had been working day and night to help companies and workers deal with the economic impact caused by the pandemic. Hesse’s finance chief of 10 years was said to be someone the state needed during such a difficult time.
“Today, we have to assume that he was deeply worried. It’s precisely during this difficult time that we would have needed someone like him,” said Mr Bouffier.
