Covid-hit ex-Assam CM Gogoi gets plasma therapy after condition worsens

Guwahati, Sep 1 (IANS) A week after he tested Covid-19 positive, former Assam Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader Tarun Gogoi was administered plasma therapy after his condition deteriorated at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), doctors said on Tuesday.

GMCH doctors said that Gogoi’s condition, however, is stable now after administering one unit of plasma and two litres of oxygen since late on Monday night. According to the doctors, the condition of the 85-year-old veteran leader had deteriorated late on Monday night after a sudden fall in oxygen saturation levels. Gogoi, Chief Minister for 15 years until the BJP came to power in Assam in 2016, had tested positive for COVID-19 on August 25 and was admitted to the GMCH the next day.

Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had rushed to the hospital to inquire about the treatment of Gogoi and also spoke with his son and Congress MP Gaurav, who is currently out of the country. A nine-member medical team of doctors, headed by Jogesh Sarma, the head of the GMCH’s Pulmonary Medicine Department, is monitoring Gogoi’s treatment.

Gogoi, who represents Titabor Assembly constituency in Jorhat district, is among the 24 legislators from the state to have tested positive for the dreaded virus. Rajya Sabha member Kamakhya Prasad Tassa, All India Mahila Congress President and ex-MP Sushmita Dev and sitting Lok Sabha member Maulana Badruddin Ajmal had also tested positive earlier.

–IANS

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