Ex-India’s president, Pranab Mukherjee still on ventilator support

Health officials on Thursday said that the India’s former president Pranab Mukherjee is still on ventilator support, saying his condition remains unchanged as he is deeply comatose.

The former president was admitted to the hospital on Monday and operated upon for removal of a clot in his brain. Prior to surgery, he tested positive for COVID-19.

“The condition of Pranab Mukherjee remains unchanged this morning, He is deeply comatose with stable vital parameters and he continues to be on ventilatory support,” a statement from Indian army’s research and referral hospital published Thursday in local media said.

Mukherjee’s son Abhijit Mukherjee took to social media to dispel rumours in local media about his father’s condition.

“My father Pranab Mukherjee is still alive and haemodynamically stable,” he wrote on twitter on Thursday.

“Speculations and fake news being circulated by reputed journalists on social media clearly reflects that media in India has become a factory of fake news.”

Following surgery Mukherjee’s condition became critical and he was put on life support.

Mukherjee served as India’s president between 2012 and 2017.

India said the number of COVID-19 cases in the country have reached 2, 396,637 including 47,033 deaths by Thursday.

Globally India is the third worst-hit country by the COVID-19 pandemic.