Tamil Nadu Minister for Agriculture Doraikkannu has been battling for life since he had tested positive for COVID-19 and he has now been spelled as in extremely critical condition amid the treatments. The 72-year-old septuagenarian has been one of the senior ADMK leaders, being served in the legislative assembly three times. 

The minister has been placed under an extremely critical condition with maximum life support as he had suffered a significant deterioration in vital functions. The minister has been getting treated at Kauvery Hospital in Chennai and the hospital has, on Saturday, released an official medical bulletin concerning the minister's health condition. 

In its bulletin, the hospital said, "The Honourable Minister for Agriculture, Thiru R Doraikkannu has suffered a significant deterioration in vital functions. He is extremely critical despite being on maximal life support". According to reports, the minister was admitted on October 13, and during the hospitalization, he had tested positive for the COVID-19 viral infection. 

He was tested positive for the pandemic on Sunday and he was placed under the support of ECMO (Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation). The 72-year-old septuagenarian has been suffering from multiple comorbidities and he was put through the scan test after testing positive for the viral infection and his scan report had shown 90% lung involvement. 

Doraikkannu had on October 13 developed chest pain and breathing difficulty while he was traveling to Salem to pay homage to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's mother, who passed away at the age of 93 due to cardiac arrest in Salem. 

Doraikkannu was traveling from Chennai to Salem by road and when his convoy reached Villupuram, he complained of breathing difficulty following which he was rushed to the Villupuram Government Medical College and Hospital in Mudiyambakkam. 

After getting the first aid treatment at the government hospital, he was later brought to Chennai by road through ambulance for further treatment and got admitted to Kauvery hospital in the city. Initially, he was doing stable and the hospital later revealed that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and under the support of ECMO. On Sunday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and Health Minister Vijayabaskar had visited the hospital and enquired about the health condition of the minister.