RANCHI: School Education Minister Jagarnath Mahto was on Monday shifted to Mahatma Gandhi Memorial (MGM) Hospital in Chennai by an air ambulance following the deterioration in his health conditions.
The minister, who was tested positive for Covid-19 on September 28 and was admitted to a hospital in Ranchi, had been on the ventilator since Sunday.
A team of doctors from Chennai visited Mahto and reviewed his health conditions in presence of Chief Minister Hemant Soren at Medica Hospital in Ranchi. After a thorough checkup, doctors advised putting Mahto, whose lungs have been infected badly, on Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ACMO) popularly known as artificial lungs.
According to doctors, if his conditions did not improve in the next couple of days, he may undergo lung transformation.
In order to avoid traffic hassles en-route to Birsa Munda Airport, the entire stretch from Medica Hospital to Airport had been converted into a green zone. Chief Minister Hemant Soren had been keeping a close eye on the entire situation and was present there till the air ambulance took off.
“Finally, Jagarnath Mahto was shifted to MGM Hospital in Chennai on Monday. We are really thankful to the team of doctors from Chennai who visited him on our request on very short notice,” said CM Soren. He expected that Mahto will recover fully and return to Ranchi very soon.
After being tested positive for Covid-19, the minister was admitted to the Covid-19 centre of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi on September 28. He was admitted to the Ranchi Medica Hospital on October 1.
Mahto had hit the headlines recently for gifting cards to state toppers of Class 10 and Class 12 examinations. The minister, who himself is pursuing his schooling at the moment, also promised to adopt toppers from the next year so that they can finish their studies without any hurdle.
The education minister, a matriculate, had also surprised everyone by taking admission to Nawadih Devi Mahto Inter School in Bokaro, a school set up by him in 2006 after becoming MLA for the first time in 2005.