DMK MLA Tests Positive For Coronavirus, on Ventilator Support Battling Severe Acute Respiratory Distress

Chennai, June 4: A DMK legislator has tested positive for coronavirus and he is on ventilatory support battling severe acute respiratory distress, a hospital said here on Thursday. The 61-year-old, a senior party leader in the state capital, was admitted on June 2, Dr Rela Institute and Medical Centre said in a statement. He was having severe acute respiratory distress and his Covid PCR test was positive at the time of admission, hospital's Chief Executive Officer Dr Ilankumaran Kaliamoorthy said. India Reports Highest Spike of 9,304 COVID-19 Cases in Past 24 Hours, Total Count Rises to 2,16,919, Death Toll at 6,075.

Initially, he was managed with oxygen therapy through facemask and later on, he was put on ventilator support as his respiratory distress worsened, the hospital said. "He is currently getting 80 per cent of oxygen through the ventilator and his condition remains unchanged for the last 24 hours."

The legislator is a well-known DMK leader and he is also among the party's district secretaries. An articulate member in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, he has successfully organised a slew of DMK events and is close to party president M K Stalin.