The Burundian president died from the coronavirus, according to medics at the hospital where he was flown to following his death.
The country's government had announced Pierre Nkurunziza's cause of death as from a heart attack.
A medical source at the Karusi hospital where Nkurunziza died, has confirmed the president was in 'respiratory distress' before his death.
Medics at the Kamenge university hospital in Bujumbura told AFP that the head of the institute of public health requested their hospital's only ventilator and the head of our reanimation service 'in the name of the presidency' on Monday at 10 am.
The president was flown to the hospital in Karusi, but it was 'too late,' he was 'already dead,' a medical source in Karusi said.
Earlier reports from a government source detailed Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza, aged 55, had died after suffering a cardiac arrest.
A government statement said that he was admitted to hospital on Saturday after feeling unwell.
His condition then improved but on Monday he had a cardiac arrest and efforts to revive him were unsuccessful as reported by the BBC News site.
Mr Nkurunziza was due to step down from the presidency in August after 15 years in power.
This came after his wife, the First lady Denise Bucumi Nkurunziza was currently undergoing treatment in Kenya.
She was airlifted from her country to get specialized treatment for #Coronavirus symptoms at the Aga Khan University Hospital in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
Kenyan local media confirmed that the outgoing first lady of #Burundi arrived into the country with details surrounding her arrival remaining scanty. He was hastily rushed to the hospital.
The Republic of Burundi just concluded its presidential election in May amid the coronavirus pandemic. Weeks before the election, Burundi expelled a World Health Organization coronavirus team tasked with helping the country to respond to the #wuhancoronavirus.
Burundi expelled the World Health Organization (WHO) representative and three others; Prof Tarzy Daniel, Dr Ruhana Mirindi Bisimwa and Dr Jean Pierre Murunda in a letter that declared them "persona non grata" on a 48-hour demand to leave the country.
Burundi Foreign Affairs Minister Ezechiel Nibigira confirmed the letter to the BBC without giving reasons for their expulsion.
Public rallies by candidates for the presidency took place across the country and no measures to contain the virus were being observed, this sparked fears of an imminent spike.
A nurse who works at one of the main hospitals in Bujumbura and a doctor on the national coronavirus taskforce confirmed their fears that there are at least 10 times more #Coronavirus confirmed cases than the government has made public.
As per government records, Burundi has 42 confirmed COVID-19 cases, while 20 have recovered and only one death has been recorded.
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