Coronavirus: Jailed poet, activist Varavara Rao tests positive for COVID-19
80-year-old Hyderabad-based poet and activist Varavara Rao, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, has tested positive for COVID-19.
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Mumbai: Jailed poet and activist Varavara Rao, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, has tested positive for COVID-19, a hospital official said on Thursday.
The 80-year-old, lodged in the Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai under judicial custody, was admitted to the state-run JJ Hospital earlier this week.
According to Dr Ranjeet Mankeshwar, dean of JJ Hospital, Rao's medical report arrived on Thursday and he was found to be COVID-19 positive.
"His treatment is going on," Mankeshwar said.
Rao was shifted to the government-run hospital in south Mumbai after he complained of giddiness.
Maharashtra on Thursday reported the highest single-day spike of 8,641 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infections. The state tally now stands at 2,84,281. With 266 fresh deaths, the death toll now stands at 11,194, the state health department said in its bulletin.
