Actor Soumitra Chatterjee's health improves, doctors plan to make him walk

Veteran Bengali actor Soumitra

Chatterjee's health condition has improved significantly and doctors are planning to make him walk with support in a couple of days, a senior medical practitioner treating him at a private hospital here said on Monday.

Doctors said the octogenarian was administered "rigorous" physiotherapy to help him improve quickly and they are planning to read out stories to him, besides continuing his music therapy.

"We have given him higher doses of steroids and there have been no complications. Hopefully, its effect will be evident in the coming days. He has responded today also. There has been no growth in cultures. The good thing is that we made him sit on the bed.

"We have intensified his physiotherapy so that he improves quickly. We have also given him chest and limb therapy. Maybe, in a couple of days, we will start making him walk with support," Dr Arindam Kar, who is leading a team of doctors treating the actor, said.

The thespian's oxygen saturation levels have been consistent without support, his organs like heart and kidneys are functioning normally and all other parameters are also fine, he said.

"His music therapy is ongoing and we are also planning to read out books to him to make him feel better. This may help in psychological stimulation in the brain," the doctor said.

Chatterjee has not developed any new complication and does not have a fever, he said.

"We are reasonably sure he will recover from this deadly disease and in the coming four to five days, he will be in a much better state," Kar added.

The critically acclaimed actor, who has worked with renowned filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha and Tarun Mazumdar, was admitted to the hospital on October 6 after he tested positive for COVID-19.

He was shifted to the ITU after his condition deteriorated.

Chatterjee had tested negative for the infection on Wednesday, after which he was shifted to a non-COVID ITU for treatment.