Pranab Mukherjee on Ventilator Support

After brain surgery at the Army Research and Referral Hospital, where he was admitted in the morning after testing positively for coronavirus disease (Covid-19), former India President Pranab Mukherjee, 84, was placed on ventilator support on Monday. He tested positive while undergoing routine check-up, Hindustan Times reports.

“On a visit to the hospital for a separate procedure, I have tested positive for Covid-19 today. I request the people who came in contact with me in the last week, to please self-isolate and get tested for Covid-19,” Mukherjee tweeted on Monday afternoon.

Officials aware of the developments confirmed that the former president was on the ventilator following a successful brain surgery to extract the clot.

Mukherjee, President between 2012 and 2017, kept his public contacts to a minimum after the January pandemic hit the world. In his Rajaji Marg residence in New Delhi, he stopped all the meetings and met just a handful of people.

According to the officials listed above, he is under near surveillance in the hospital. Army R&R has been Mukherjee 's favorite hospital for care since he became defense minister in 2004.

While West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed concern regarding Mukherjee 's health and wished him well, senior Congress Rahul Gandhi, Union Minister Piyush Goel and many others wished Mukherjee a quick recovery.

President Ram Nath Kovind talked to his aunt, Congress member Sharmistha Mukherjee, and asked about her father's wellbeing. Kovind and several Indian leaders also given him a good recovery.

Mukherjee underwent an angioplasty - a procedure to open blocked or narrowed coronary arteries - at the same hospital in 2014. He had decided not to contest the 2017 presidential elections citing “advanced age and failing health.”

Defence minister Rajnath Singh visited the R&R Hospital and enquired about the former president’s health.

While west Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressed concern about Mukherjee’s health and wished him well, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Union minister Piyush Goel and many others wished Mukherjee a speedy recovery.

Minister of railways Piyush Goyal tweeted, “I pray for the well-being and speedy recovery of Shri Pranab Mukherjee. I am confident he will be successful in recovering from the virus quickly. Wishing him strength and good health.”

“Please take care sir. We are praying for your speedy recovery and good health @CitiznMukherjee,” tweeted Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Abhijeet Mukherjee, member of the Congress and son of the former President, wrote, "I wish my father a quick recovery! I appeal to all my countrymen to pray for his quick recovery and good health. "Many representatives from across the political spectrum have wished Mukherjee a speedy recovery.

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot tweeted, “I have come to know former President of India Sh. Pranab Mukherjee has tested positive for Covid-19...concerned about his health. Wish him a speedy recovery.”

Last year, Mukherjee was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award.