Lata Mangeshkar, the legendary singer who has been hospitalised since January 8, showed signs of improvement after she was taken off the ventilator on Thursday as a trial. However, the 92-year-old continues to remain under observation in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai.
The singer’s representatives took to social media to share the update on her health. “Lata didi continues to be in the ICU at Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai under treatment. She has been given a trial of extubation (off the invasive ventilator) this morning,” they wrote.
“Presently, she is showing signs of improvement but will remain under observation of the team of doctors, headed by Dr Pratit Samdani,” they added. “We thank each one of you for your prayers and good wishes.”
It has been 20 days since Mangeshkar was hospitalised. On January 8, the singer was admitted to the hospital after testing positive for Covid-19. She has been in the ICU since then and was under observation for pneumonia.
When Silverscreen India reached out to Dr Samdani a week after she was admitted, he had mentioned that it was hard to say when she would recover. “She is still in ICU and under observation. Recovery takes time and it is difficult for me to say when she will come out of ICU. Pray for her,” the doctor had said.
Recently, on Tuesday, Mangeshkar’s family took to Twitter and requested people to not spread rumours regarding her health. “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,” they wrote.
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Born on September 28, 1929 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Mangeshkar entered the film industry in the 1940s as a 13-year-old. In a career spanning over seven decades, the singer has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films, besides singing in other languages including Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam.
Known as the ‘Melody Queen of India’, Mangeshkar received the Padma Bhushan in 1969, followed by the Dadasaheb Phalke award in 1989, and the Padma Vibhushan in 1999. She was also bestowed with the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour in India, in 2001. She has received the Legion of Honour award from France as well.
Mangeshkar’s last recorded song was the independent single Saugandh Mujhe Is Mitti Ki in 2019.