Former President of India Pranab Mukerjee continues to be in a deep coma, the Army Research and Referral Hospital, where he has been admitted since August 10, said in an update on Friday. Pranab Mukherjee is undergoing treatment at the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit for lung and renal dysfunctions.
A health bulletin issued by the hospital on Friday read, "Hon’ble Shri Pranab Mukherjee continues to be in a deep coma and on ventilator support. He is being treated for a lung infection and renal dysfunction.” The hospital also said that the former President is currently haemodynamically stable, which means the rate at which his heart is pumping blood is stable.
81-year-old Pranab Mukherjee had on August 10 tweeted that he had tested positive for coronavirus when he had gone to the hospital for a separate procedure. “I request the people who came in contact with me in the last week, to please self isolate and get tested for COVID-19,” he had tweeted then.
A group of doctors on August 16, had operated on the Ex-President to remove a clot from his brain.
The doctors from the Army R&R on August 19 had said that there was a decline in his medical conditions because of the development of a lung infection. They had added that a group of specialists were closely monitoring his health.
Pranab Mukherjee, born December 11, 1935, served as the 13th President of India from 2012 until 2017. In a five decade long political career, the Ex-President has been a senior leader in the Indian National Congress and has also occupied several ministerial portfolios in the government of India. Before he was elected President, Mukherjee was the Union Finance Minister from 2009 to 2012. He was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna in 2019 by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind.