JOIN USDMK MLA tests positive for COVID-19; currently on ventilator support
DMK MLA J Anbazhagan, a close confidante of party chief M K Stalin, has tested positive for Coronavirus and is currently on ventilator support at a private hospital here.
With this, Anbazhagan, MLA from Chepauk-Triplicance constituency here, becomes the first politician in the state to contract COVID-19. Already, three IPS officers and one IAS officer have tested positive for the virus in the state.
61-year-old Anbazhagan, a three-time MLA, was at the forefront of DMK’s Ondrinaivom Vaa (Let us come together) campaign aimed at providing relief to those affected by the COVID-19 lockdown in the city. Anbazhagan, also secretary of DMK’s Chennai West district, has his ears to the ground and also known his organizational skills.
Anbazhagan was admitted to Dr. Rela Institute of Medical Centre here on June 2 with “severe acute respiratory distress” and he subsequently tested positive for Coronavirus.
“Initially, he was managed with oxygen therapy through a facemask, and later on, he was put on ventilator support as his respiratory distress worsened. He is currently getting 80 percent oxygen through the ventilator and his condition remains unchanged for the last 24 hours,” Dr. Ilankumaran Kaliamoorthy, Chief Executive Officer of the hospital, said in a statement.
Party sources said Anbazhagan has a few co-morbid conditions and that they were praying for his recovery. “He was at the forefront of the relief activities taken by the DMK in Chennai for the past 2.5 months. He was on the field till early this week and was actively coordinating with party cadre,” a DMK leader said.