Covid positive Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee taken to hospital

KOLKATA: Former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was admitted to a private hospital on Tuesday with shortness of breath and drowsiness.
The 76-year-old, along with wife Meera Bhattacharjee, tested positive for Covid on May 18. So far, he had been under treatment at home. Bhattacharjee was put on non-invasive ventilation after his oxygen saturation level dropped below 90%, according to a statement by Woodlands Hospital, where he was admitted. Bhattacharjee has been stated to be “conscious, alert and communicating verbally”. His blood pressure and pulse are also stable and urine output satisfactory. Doctors said he was on antibiotics and Covid drugs, apart from non-invasive ventilation.
Meera, who was released from the same hospital on Monday after recovering from Covid, was readmitted later on Tuesday after she suffered a panic attack.
A six-member team has been formed for the former CM’s treatment. Though Bhattacharjee is clinically stable, his dropping oxygen level was a cause for concern, said doctors. “His oxygen saturation dipped below 90%. We did a chest CT scan that revealed changes in lungs and some other anomalies. Bhattacharjee is a COPD patient,” said Kaushik Chakraborty, a member of the medical team, which comprises Dhrubo Bhattacharya, Soutik Panda, Somnath Maity, Ankan Bandopadhyay and cardiologist Saroj Mondal.
On Tuesday afternoon, chief minister Mamata Banerjee called upon Meera and assured her of all government support for the former chief minister’s treatment. She also asked about Bhattacharjee’s health.