Former West Bengal CM and Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, who had tested positive for COVID-19 last week, was admitted to a private hospital in Kolkata on Tuesday, 25 May, after his oxygen levels dropped.
He was reportedly shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Bhattacharya and his wife Mira had tested positive for COVID-19 on 17 May. He was being treated at home so far, while his wife was hospitalised after testing positive.
Speaking to the media, Woodlands Hospital CEO Dr Rupali Basu said, “Bhattacharya is stable right now and a panel of six doctors has been informed for his treatment.”
She also stated that Bhattacharya’s oxygen flow is high and that he may recover within a week, reported Hindustan Times.
The party’s state secretary Dr Surjya Kanta Mishra, who is also one of the doctors in the panel stated that Bhattacharya initially refused to get treated at a hospital, but as his oxygen level dropped on Tuesday, the doctors advised him to get hospitalised, PTI reported.
Bhattacharya is also a patient of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). In October 2020, Bhattacharya’s health was critical with symptoms of breathlessness and low oxygen levels. He was hospitalised for six days but had tested negative for COVID-19 then.
Bhattacharya was the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 2000 to 2011.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times and PTI)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)