Asia
Asia
FILE PHOTO: Malaysia's former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad reacts during an interview with Reuters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, October 16, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Lim Huey Teng)
KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, 97, has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been hospitalised for observation, his office said in a statement on Wednesday (Aug 31).
“Mahathir has been admitted to the National Heart Institute for observation for the next few days as advised by the medical team,” the statement said, without giving details of his symptoms or condition.
The nonagenarian, who served for more than two decades as prime minister, has a history of heart problems. He has had heart attacks and bypass surgeries.
Dr Mahathir has received at least three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with the last known shot in November 2021, according to earlier comments made by him and Malaysian government officials.
He was warded at National Heart Institute in December last year for “a full medical check-up and further observation” before undergoing an elective medical procedure on Jan 8.
Dr Mahathir and the National Heart Institute did not say at the time what procedure the former leader had undergone, only saying that he had been admitted to the cardiac care unit at the hospital.
After being in and out of hospital for several weeks, he was discharged in early February, with follow-up appointments planned “as and when required in the near future”, the National Heart Institute said at the time.
Dr Mahathir served as prime minister for 22 years until 2003. He returned as premier at the age of 92 after leading an opposition coalition to a historic win in 2018, defeating the party that he had once led.
But his government collapsed in less than two years due to infighting.
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