Critically ill minister Jagarnath Mahto, who tested Covid positive on September 28 and has been hospitalised since then, was flown to Chennai from here in an air ambulance on Monday for better treatment, doctors treating him at a private hospital said.
State education minister Mahto, who is on ventilator support, left Bhagwan Mahavir Medica Superspecialty Hospital in Ranchi at 4.45pm on Monday. The air ambulance carrying the minister took off from the Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi at 6.30pm. It is expected to land at Chennai International Airport around 9pm, confirmed Ranchi airport director Vinod Sharma.
A two-member team of lung experts from Mahatma Gandhi Memorial (MGM) Healthcare in Chennai visited Ranchi to examine Mahto on a special request from chief minister Hemant Soren on Sunday. After a thorough medical examination and a series of meetings with local doctors and government representatives, Mahto was allowed to travel by air despite being critically ill, officials said.
“He is critical and somehow fighting. The team from Chennai examined the minister and gave a go-ahead for shifting him to MGM in Chennai,” said Dr Vijay Mishra, who has been treating Mahto at Medica since October 1.
The ambulance carrying state education minister Jagarnath Mahto in Ranchi on Monday Manob Chowdhury
There has been speculation that Mahto may have to undergo a lung transplant. But Dr Mishra clarified that there were no such plans as of now. “The doctors at MGM will take a call on the future course of action,” he added.
The chief minister has been frequenting Medica in Ranchi and meeting doctors after Mahto’s health deteriorated. Hemant, quoting doctors, had said earlier that Mahto was not fit to travel, but that the team of doctors in Ranchi was in touch with experts from Chennai to provide the best possible treatment.
Earlier in the day, Hemant said every minute detail related to Mahto’s health was thoroughly monitored by the team from MGM before taking the decision to shift him to Chennai. “He is stable now, but we want the best possible treatment for him,” said the chief minister.
The 53-year-old minister, a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) legislator from Dumri constituency, has been in the news for taking admission in an inter college and gifting cars to class 10 and class 12 toppers of Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) exams. He had also won appreciation for providing fee relaxations to children studying in private schools during the nationwide lockdown.
