Apollo hospital said today that Chief Minister Jayalalithaa is now speaking for a few minutes at a time
Highlights
- Jayalalithaa speaking for a few minutes, using speakers: hospital
- Doctor says she is able to breathe 90% of the time without support
- Ms Jayalalithaa has been in hospital for more than two months now
Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, who has had a tracheostomy after a severe lung infection, is now speaking for a few minutes at a time using speakers, Chennai's Apollo hospital said today in a new health update.
Tracheostomy is a surgical procedure to create an opening in the trachea, used for breathing. Apollo chiarman, Dr Prathap Reddy, said Ms Jayalalithaa, who was on ventilator support for weeks, is now able to breathe 90 per cent of the time without support.
The next target, he said, was for the chief minister to start walking. "She's absolutely well. She will decide when she will go home," Dr Reddy said, reiterating what he has said in his last few medical bulletins.
Ms Jayalalithaa has been in hospital for more than two months now; she was admitted at the Chennai Apollo on September 22. She was treated by several teams of doctors including a specialist from the UK in the hospital's Intensive Care Unit or ICU for weeks before being shifted last weekend to a special room which her party the AIADMK said "has larger space to even meet people."
From her hospital bed last week, the chief minister described her recovery as a "rebirth" and said she is "waiting to fully recover and resume work soon".
Earlier this week, she celebrated her party's sweep of by-elections in the state by saying in another statement, "The by-poll victory gives me boundless joy and enthusiasm."
Ms Jayalalithaa's trusted aide and Finance Minister O Panneerselvam is heading cabinet meetings and is looking after the eight ministries Ms Jayalalithaa personally handles while she is unwell.