Khaleda Zia in ‘stable condition but not fully recovered’, says doctor 

She will continue to be treated at home, said Professor Dr AFM Siddiqui, the head of Khaleda’s personal physicians, after she was discharged from Evercare Hospital in Dhaka on Saturday.

He said they brought her home because of risks of infection in the hospital. She suffered blood infections thrice at the hospital, according to him.

Doctor Siddiqui said Khaleda bravely dealt with the infections. “She spent 18 to 19 days seeing blood haemorrhaging through tubes to bags.”

“But she is not cured. She has overcome the deterioration of the complications related to her heart, kidney and liver that developed due to COVID. But the illness has remained. We couldn’t fully address them, so the risk remains.”

The physician said the former prime minister may need to visit the hospital after around three more weeks for a review of her health.

He also claimed not all the advanced medical technology needed for Khaleda’s full recovery were available in Bangladesh, suggesting that she needed treatment abroad, especially for the liver complications.

She had been receiving treatment at her home in Gulshan after contracting the coronavirus in mid-April.

She was hospitalised on Apr 27 and later moved to the coronary care unit as she complained of respiratory distress.

The 76-year-old politician tested negative on May 9, but stayed at the hospital for recovery. She also has diabetes and arthritis.

The BNP chief has been living in her Gulshan residence since the government suspended her imprisonment order in March 2020.

She had served 25 months out of 17 years of prison sentences in two graft cases, involving Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust.