Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain (55), who is undergoing treatment at Max Hospital in Saket after he tested positive for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on Wednesday, was administered plasma therapy on Friday following the worsening of his health condition.
Convalescent plasma therapy is an experimental medical procedure, where critical Covid-19 patients are treated using plasma collected from those who have recovered from the viral infection.
The minister is stable and is being monitored by a team of critical care specialists in the hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU), sources said on condition of anonymity.
The minister was admitted to the Delhi government-run Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital in Tahirpur on Monday night after he was found to be suffering from a high fever and low oxygen saturation.
Initially, he had tested Covid-19 negative.
Earlier on Monday, he had attended an all-party meeting convened by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss the pandemic situation in the national capital.
He was on oxygen support at the hospital intermittently.
{{/usCountry}}He was on oxygen support at the hospital intermittently.
{{/usCountry}}However, the minister, who has no comorbidities, was found to be suffering from pneumonia, a known Covid-19 complication, and also complained of breathlessness and giddiness from Friday morning.
Soon, he was shifted to Max Hospital’s ICU and kept on oxygen support.
Later in the day, a CT scan revealed that the pneumonic patch in his lungs had expanded.