Odisha

Eminent poet Jayanta Mahapatra wins battle against COVID-19

Cuttack: The celebrated Indian English poet from Odisha, Jayanta Mahapatra, won the battle against deadly COVID-19.

The 93-year-old poet was hospitalised since May 31 after his condition deteriorated due to COVID-19. He was undergoing treatment at the SCB Medical College & Hospital in Cuttack.

As he was suffering from age-related ailments and had diabetes, his treatment was challenging for the doctors.

The nonagenarian fought the battle and recovered from the infection following 16-day-long treatment by a team of doctors at the hospital.

According to reports, Mahapatra was admitted to the ICU of the SCB COVID Hospital after he was diagnosed with COVID-19 last month. Initially, he complained of breathlessness. Gradually, his oxygen level came under control. He did not require oxygen support in last 48 hours, the SCB stated in a statement yesterday.

He developed pneumonia after being infected with Coronavirus and he was a diabetic too. A team of doctors comprising of by Dr. Jayant Panda (HoD of Medicine Department, SCB), who had been treating the eminent poet in past 25 years, Dr. Deba Prasad Mohanty (Anesthesiologist at SCB), Dr. Jyoti Patnaik (Professor of Pulmonary Medicine at SCB) and Dr. Debasish Swain (Associate Professor of Anesthesiology Department at SCB) was engaged at his treatment at the State’s premier medical institution.

The eminent litterateur is the first poet in the country to have won the Sahitya Akademi Award for English poetry. He is credited with the works — ‘Indian Summer’ and ‘Hunger’, the classics in modern Indian English literature.

He was conferred with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India, in the year 2009. However, he returned the prestigious award in 2015 to protest against moral asymmetry in the country.

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