Covid-19: Shripad Naik recovering, but HFNO to continue, says Goa CM Pramod Sawant

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday said that Union Minister for Defence and AYUSH Shripad Naik would continue to be administered high flow nasal oxygen for the next four days.

The announcement came on a day when Goa Speaker Rajesh Patnekar was also admitted to a government hospital for medical examination.

Four MLAs, in a House of 40 legislators, from both the ruling and opposition parties are already under treatment after they tested positive for Covid-19 over the last two weeks.

Speaking to reporters in Panaji, Sawant said that Naik, whose blood saturation levels had dropped on Monday, sparking panic, is on the recovery path.

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“Union AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik has been admitted for the last 14 days. The team from (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) AIIMS has visited him for the second time. They have examined him and have opined that he does not need to be taken to AIIMS Delhi for treatment,” the Chief Minister said.

“His health has improved further today. He is once again on high flow nasal oxygen. It will be required for another three to four days for him to be transferred to normal oxygen again. He is doing very well. His health is improving,” Sawant also said while interacting with reporters outside the Chief Minister’s official residence. Naik is a Lok Sabha MP from the North Goa parliamentary constituency.

Speaker of the state legislative assembly Rajesh Patnekar was also admitted to the Goa Medical College near Panaji earlier on Wednesday.

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“With regards to the recent news about my health, I would like to state that I had come to GMC on prior appointment for some routine check-up. My Doctor advised me to do some further tests for which I have been admitted to the hospital. I am feeling perfectly fine…” the Speaker Patnekar said in a social media post, soon after he was admitted to the top government facility.

Four other MLAs, namely ex-chief ministers Churchill Alemao and Ravi Naik and former deputy Chief Minister Sudin Dhavalikar and BJP MLA Nilkanth Halarnkar have been tested positive for Covid-19.

While Alemao and Dhavalikar are currently admitted to a private hospital, Naik and Halarnkar are undergoing treatment in home isolation.