The 91-year-old had been in home isolation at his Chandigarh residence after he tested positive for the virus on Wednesday.
He has now been admitted to the ICU of Mohali’s Fortis hospital, which said that Milkha has been diagnosed with “COVID pneumonia”.
“He is stable and presently on low flow oxygen and medical management,” the hospital stated.
Earlier Milkha’s golfer son Jeev Milkha Singh said that the decision to hospitalise him was a precautionary measure.
“He has been hospitalised. He was weak and not eating since yesterday, so we had to hospitalise him. Though his parameters seemed alright, we thought it is safer to have him admitted where he would be under supervision of senior doctors,” Jeev told PTI news agency.
Just wanted to thank everyone for the outpouring of good wishes that have poured in for my dad. He is in great spirits and receiving wonderful care and I am sure he will be the Flying Sikh he has always been very soon.
Jai Hind. pic.twitter.com/XDaPHdiHNq— Jeev Milkha Singh (@JeevMilkhaSingh) May 20, 2021
“He’s under good care of doctors there. He’s a strong man, always positive and will recover soon,” added the golfer, who reached back home on Saturday from Dubai after his father tested positive.
Milkha had earlier said that a couple of house helps had been infected by the virus after which his family underwent tests.
“Only I returned positive on Wednesday and I’m surprised,” Milkha had told PTI after testing positive.
None of the other family members, including Milkha’s wife Nirmal Kaur, a former India volleyball captain, returned a positive test.
Punjab Chief Minister captain Amarinder Singh wished the senior Milkha a speedy recovery.
Wishing speedy recovery to ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh Ji who has been admitted in hospital in Mohali for #Covid19 treatment. Get well soon Sir! pic.twitter.com/Kthbqqrkk2
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) May 24, 2021
“Wishing speedy recovery to ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh Ji who has been admitted in hospital in Mohali for #Covid19 treatment. Get well soon Sir!” Amarinder tweeted.
Earlier, Nirmal Kaur had said that PGIMER here had sent an attendant along with oxygen facilities to look after him at his home.
The legendary athlete is a four-time Asian Games gold-medallist and 1958 Commonwealth Games champion but his greatest performance was the fourth place finish in the 400m final of the 1960 Rome Olympics.
He also represented India in the 1956 and 1964 Olympics and was bestowed the Padma Shri in 1959.
(With inputs from PTI)
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
