Former AIADMK leader VK Sasikala, according to the Bengal Medical College and Research health bulletin, is “conscious and well oriented.”
She had tested tested positive for the coronavirus and was shifted to the COVID-19 intensive care unit at Bengaluru’s Victoria Hospital, on Thursday, 21 January.
Some of the other details shared in the bulletin, from Friday evening, were that her pulse is 67 per minute and her respiratory rate is 20-24 per minute.
In a previous health bulletin, the hospital had said that they were constantly monitoring the former AIADMK General Secretary’s condition.
According to The News Minute, this was the third test that had returned positive, as two earlier tests – a rapid antigen test and an RT-PCR test – had returned negatives on Wednesday.
However, her family reportedly insisted on a CT scan of the chest which revealed the infection. She was sent to Victoria Hospital for the CT scan on Thursday afternoon.
Sasikala already has multiple comorbidities that she is receiving treatment for.
The aide of the late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had fallen ill in the Parappana Agrahara Prison.
She was brought to Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in Bengaluru, Karnataka, from Central Jail after she complained of fever on Wednesday, 20 January.
Sasikala’s release, which was scheduled for 27 January, may now get delayed because she is under observation in the ICU. She will have to undergo treatment while being under the charge of prisons department, sources say.
Her advocate Raja Senthoor Pandian had earlier told The New Minute that she will be released from the Parappana Agrahara Prison in Karnataka latest by 27 January.
On 14 February 2017, the Karnataka High Court’s decision was overruled by the Supreme Court of India. The Supreme Court convicted Sasikala, Ilavarasi and Sudhakaran in the disproportionate assets case. They were awarded four years' imprisonment, and were also fined Rs 10 crore.
(With inputs from The News Minute.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)