Tarun Gogoi’s health worsens due to post-COVID-19 complications; ex-Assam CM put on ventilator support

Former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s health condition deteriorated with multi-organ failure and he has become unconscious with difficulty in breathing, Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday. The 86-year old veteran Congress politician, who was on Non-Invasive Ventilation (NIV) since he was admitted at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on 2 November due to post-COVID complications, was put under invasive ventilation, the minister said. His son and Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi has rushed to the hospital along with Assam Chief Secretary Jishnu Barua. A host of senior leaders from the Congress has also reached GMCH to inquire about his health conditions. “Around afternoon today, his condition deteriorated with difficulties in breathing. So, doctors started an intubation ventilator, which is machine ventilation,” said Sarma, who hurried to the GMCH and held a discussion with the doctors about Gogoi’s health. Gogoi is unconscious and has suffered from multi-organ failure, the minister added. “Efforts are on to revive his organs with medicines and other means. The doctors will also attempt dialysis. However, the next 48-72 hours are very critical and we are doing everything possible,” he said. Sarma said doctors of GMCH are in constant touch with experts from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi and ruled out any possibility of shifting him to outside the state in this condition. “We are regularly updating the family and every decision is being taken with their consent only,” he added. On 25 October, the three-time former chief minister, who was undergoing treatment for COVID-19 and other post-recovery complications, was discharged from the GMCH after spending exactly two months there. Gogoi had tested positive for COVID-19 on 25 August and was admitted to the GMCH the next day. GMCH Superintendent Abhijit Sarma said, “Intubation is done. He is hemodynamically stable but very critical. We will observe him for the next 48 hours.” Stating that Gogoi is suffering from post-COVID ailments, the senior doctor informed the media that the GMCH is following the treatment protocol of the AIIMS, Delhi in Gogoi’s case. Sarma said he will brief the media next at 10 am on Sunday to give an update on Gogoi’s health condition. He was admitted to the hospital on 2 November after complaining of restlessness the previous night and was immediately shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to put him on NIV because of high ammonia level. Gogoi’s health condition is being monitored by the same nine-member committee of doctors, led by the Head of Pulmonary Medicine Dr Jogesh Sarma, which was formed by the state government after he tested positive for COVID-19 in August. On 5 November, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal called on Gogoi at the hospital and wished him a speedy recovery, saying the Congress politician was a “father figure to me”. “He is our senior and we have a lot to do together in the interest of the people of the state,” Sonowal had said. Gogoi had issued an audiotape from the ICU, saying that it was his aim in life to serve the people of the state till the end of his life and would continue to do so in whatever way he can. After his discharge from the hospital last month after the post-recovery of COVID-19, the veteran Congress politician continued to remain under observation of the nine-member doctors’ team at his residence here. The octogenarian leader’s condition had deteriorated on 31 August with a sudden fall in oxygen saturation level. He was administered plasma therapy and was stable later. After testing negative, Gogoi was admitted to the ICU in September as he developed post-COVID-19 complications along with “a lot of comorbid conditions”. Taking no chance, the state government had organised a video conference with the AIIMS Director Dr Randip Guleria with the GMCH doctors to review Gogoi’s health conditions and the treatment given to him. 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 was holding meetings with all the stakeholders.