Colombia’s Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo died of COVID-19 on Tuesday morning, the country’s president announced.

-It is with deep sorrow and sadness that I have received the news of the death of our minister of defense Carlos Holmes Trujillo- said Ivan Duque Marquez in a video statement.

Trujillo had tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Jan. 12, after which his health deteriorated. He was hospitalized in the Military Hospital in Bogota, where he remained in an intensive care unit.

-I cannot express the pain I have- said Duque. -Carlos Holmes was my friend, my partner in battle, my co-worker and my minister.-

Before becoming minister of defense, Trujillo was foreign minister in Duque´s government. He had expressed his interest in running for president in the 2022 elections.

Former President Alvaro Uribe, one of Trujillo’s closest political allies, said the news of Trujillo's death “breaks my soul.”

The virus has killed almost 52,000 people and infected more than 2 million people in Colombia, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.