Former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi hopsitalised again, put on ventilator support

Guwahati: A week after his discharge from a hospital post-COVID-19 recovery, former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi has been admitted to a state-run facility again and put on ventilator support as his health condition has deteriorated, a doctor treating him said on Monday. The 86-year-old Congress politician complained of restlessness on Sunday night, following which he was taken to the intensive care unit (ICU) of Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), superintendent of the health facility Abhijit Sarma told reporters in Guwahati. “A team of doctors is monitoring his health. His ammonia level is slightly high. We have put him on non- invasive ventilator support and his oxygen saturation level is normal now,” he said. Gogoi is mentally stable and conscious, Sarma said. Asked if the veteran Congress politician will be shifted to a facility outside the state for treatment, the senior doctor said, “His health condition is serious but is taken care of. The situation does not demand as of now to shift him outside Assam.” Gogoi’s health condition is being monitored by a nine-member committee of doctors, which was formed by the state government after he had tested positive for COVID-19 in August. The three-time chief minister and veteran Congress leader was discharged from the hospital on 25 October after undergoing treatment for the coronavirus infection and other post-recovery complications. Since then, he was under observation of the team of nine doctors at his residence. Gogoi had tested positive for COVID-19 on 25 August and was admitted to the hospital the next day. The octogenarian leader’s health condition had deteriorated on 31 August with a sudden fall in oxygen saturation level. He was administered plasma therapy and became stable later. In the days before he tested COVID-19 positive, Gogoi was at the forefront of the Congress initiative to form a ‘grand alliance’ comprising all the Opposition parties for the 2021 Assembly polls and holding meetings with all stakeholders.