Covid: Marginal improvement in Lata Mangeshkar's health, says family

Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar's health has "marginally improved" but she continues to remain in the ICU, her family said on Tuesday.

The 92-year-old singer tested positive for coronavirus with mild symptoms and was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Breach Candy Hospital in south Mumbai on January 8.

The Mangeshkar family, through the official account of the singer, once again asked people to not indulge in spreading "disturbing rumours" about her health condition.

"There is a marginal improvement in Lata Didi's health and she continues to be in the ICU. Kindly refrain from spreading disturbing rumours or falling prey to random messages regarding Didi's health. Thank you," Mangeshkar's official Twitter account tweeted.

In a separate statement from the family, they said Mangeshkar is being treated by a team of doctors, headed by Dr Pratit Samdani.

"It's not possible to give updates daily as that is a direct intrusion in the privacy of the family. We request each one of you to be sensitive to this issue," read the statement, shared by close family friend Anusha Srinivasan Iyer.

Regarded as one of Indian cinema's greatest singers, Mangeshkar started her career at the age of 13 in 1942 and has over 30,000 songs to her credit in several Indian languages.

In her over seven-decade career, she has sung various memorable tracks such as "Ajeeb dastan hai ye", "Pyar kiya to darna kya", "Neela asman so gaya", and "Tere liye", among others.

The singer -- known as Melody Queen of India -- has been lauded with numerous awards and honours including the Padma Bhushan, the Padma Vibhushan and the Dada Saheb Phalke Award, and multiple National Film Awards.

She is also a recipient of the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.