Veteran singer SP Balasubrahmanyam critical, put on life-support

Chennai: Veteran singer S P Balasubrahmanyam, who was undergoing treatment for COVID-19 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, has been moved to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and put on life-support as his condition became "critical," the hospital said on Friday.

A bulletin released by MGM Healthcare said, "there has been a setback in the health of Thiru SP Balasubrahmanyam who had been admitted at MGM healthcare for symptoms of COVID since 5th August 2020. In a late night development on August 13, 2020 his condition has deteriorated. And based on the advice of the expert medical team attending to him, he has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and he is on life support and his condition remains critical. He is currently under observation by the team and experts from critical care and his haemodynamic and clinical parameters are being closely monitored."

On Thursday, the hospital had said the 74 year-old singer was "stable" and maintaining "normal oxygen saturation." However, his condition deteriorated in the night.

"He is being monitored by the expert team of clinicians in our High Dependency Unit (HDU)," Dr Prashanth Rajagopalan, director of the hospital had said.

On August 5, the singer, in a video shared on his Facebook page, revealed that he had tested positive for the coronavirus after showing mild symptoms.

In the video, SPB, who has worked across Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and Malayalam film industries, mentioned that he had fever, a cold and chest congestion initially and wanted to get tested for COVID-19.

The test results came back positive and the doctors advised him home quarantine and medications. However, he decided to get admitted to a private hospital as his family members were also concerned.

The singer had then said his fever had subsided and he had only a cold.

SPB was hopeful that his symptoms would go away in two days. He further added that he is in good hands and that the doctors are taking good care of him.