COVID-infected Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan shifted to ICU of Lucknow hospital

LUCKNOW: A day after he was admitted to the Medanta Hospital here with coronavirus infection, Samajwadi Party leader and Rampur Lok Sabha MP Azam Khan was shifted to the facility's Covid-19 ICU, and is being taken care of by a team of doctors, the hospital said on Monday.

The 72-year-old leader and his son Abdullah Khan were confirmed Covid-19 positive on April 30 and they were admitted to the private hospital from the Sitapur jail on Sunday, May 9.

In a health bulletin released here on Monday, the hospital said Azam Khan's oxygen needs shot up during the day to "10 litres per minute", which is why "the critical care team of the Medanta Hospital, Lucknow, shifted him to the Covid ICU".

"He in under intense treatment of the doctors there," the hospital said.

On the 30-year-old Abdullah Khan's status, the hospital said his condition is “stable and satisfactory” Medanta Hospital (Lucknow) Director Dr Rakesh Kapoor had told PTI on Sunday that Azam Khan had had moderate symptoms when he was admitted.

"Azam Khan has fever, and has been kept on four litres of oxygen. His tests are being conducted, and accordingly his treatment will be done. His son is stable," Kapoor had told PTI on Sunday.

Azam Khan, along with his son and wife Tazeen Fatma, was lodged in the jail in February last year in connection with various cases.

The Allahabad High Court had in December granted bail to Tazeen Fatma in all 34 cases registered against her.

On May 2, the jail administration tried to convince Azam Khan for treatment at Lucknow's King George's Medical University but the SP leader had refused to move out of the jail.

However, he could be convinced on Sunday and was admitted to the Medanta Hospital.

A team of doctors from the district hospital, including Sitapur CMO Madhu Garola, had examined Azam Khan on Sunday.

Thirteen other inmates had also tested positive for COVID-19 after they complained of fever and cough on April 29, a jail official had said earlier.