Gujarat MP Abhay Bharadwaj put on artificial lung support, Paatil recovers from Covid

After a team of senior doctors from Ahmedabad flew to Rajkot on the instructions of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday, Dr Samir Gami, a leading chest physician of Surat, arrived in Rajkot on Wednesday morning with two paramedical staff.

Dr Gami put Bhardwaj on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy in a bid to improve his oxygen saturation levels.  Dr Gami told The Indian Express, “We started ECMO treatment for BJP MP Abhay Bharadwaj on Wednesday morning.

The treatment will continue for three to four weeks and results will be seen after two weeks. I am back in Surat and two of my staffers are stationed over there. I will be in touch with them.”

“The therapy helped and his condition has improved. The paramedics who accompanied Dr Gami are observing him,” said Nitin Bhardwaj, younger brother of the newly-elected RS member.

A leading lawyer, 66-year-old Abhay Bhardwaj was elected to RS on June 20 this year. He tested positive for Covid-19 on August 31, around a week after he attended a roadshow and meetings of BJP workers organised in Rajkot by state BJP president CR Paatil.

Talking to The indian Express, Dr. Gami said, “We have started giving ECMO treatment to Bharadwaj from Wednesday morning onwards. The treatment will continue for three to four weeks and results of the treatment will be seen after two weeks. At present it is difficult to say anything about his health. We will have to wait for a couple of weeks.”

” I have returned back to Surat to attend my ongoing clients and two of my staffers are stationed over there. I will remain in live contact with them.

Meanwhile, Gujarat BJP president CR Paatil was discharged from Apollo Hospital in Ahmedabad on Wednesday after he recovered from Covid-19. Paatil had undergone the test for the disease last week after experiencing tiredness. Initially, Paatil’s Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) had returned negative. However, his RT-PCR test had detected the infection.

After a week’s treatment, Paatil tested negative on Tuesday, following which he was discharged from the hospital Wednesday. Paatil declared his discharge on social media. “I reached home in Surat after testing negative for Covid-19 and getting discharged from Apollo Hospital. I am home quarantined. My health is much better,” Paatil tweeted. He also thanked doctors, nursing staff and dieticians who attended him during his hospitalisation.

On Tuesday evening, Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama had flown in infectious disease expert Dr Atul Patel, cardiologist Dr Anand Shukla and pulmonary critical care expert Dr Tushar Patel from Ahmedabad to Rajkot. The three doctors assessed Bhardwaj and made suggestions to local doctors treating him.

“Low oxygen levels and high carbondioxide levels in Bhardwaj’s body is the main concern now. This is due to clotting in blood veins in lungs, which is preventing oxygen exchange in the blood,” Dr Patel told the media late on Tuesday.

He added they had been prescribing blood-thinning medicines for Bhardwaj. “The medication has helped to a certain extent but the clotting is an ongoing process. To tide over this compromised oxygenation, we made preparations for putting him on ECMO,” Dr Patel added.

Meanwhile, 99 fresh cases of Covid-19 were reported from Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) area on Wednesday, taking the total number of cases to 4,731. An official release from the RMC said that 193 patients were discharged during the day, leaving 1,238 active cases.

A release from the state information department stated that 26 patients died in Covid-19 hospitals in the city during the 24 hours ending at 9 am on Wednesday. They included 20 patients of RMC limits, four from Rajkot rural and two from other districts. The number of deaths reported on Wednesday is lower than 39 reported the previous day.

Rajkot Municipal Commissioner Udit Agrawal said that they were extending the working hours of urban health centres (UHCs) and Dhanvantri raths. “A special service window has been opened for people who are returning home late after work and are unable to avail of RMC’s health services. Dhanvantri Raths will render services between 4 pm to 8 pm and UHCs will remain open from 4 pm to 9 pm,” an official release from the RMC quoted Agrawal as saying.

Civic officials said that till now, UHCs and Dhanvantari Raths used to shut down at 7 pm.