Veteran playback singer SP Balasubrahmanyam on Wednesday tested positive for the coronavirus and was admitted to a hospital in Chennai. The singer said he was “perfectly fine” and claimed that he would be discharged from the hospital in two days.
The 74-year-old singer, who has worked across Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and Malayalam film industries, shared the news in a video message on Facebook. Balasubrahmanyam said he was experiencing chest congestion and had intermittent cold with fever, following which he decided to get himself tested.
“Last two to three days, I have been having a little discomfort,” he said. “Discomfort means little chest congestion, which for a singer is nonsense. Had cold and on and off fever. These three things, otherwise no problem.”
“They [the health officials] said it is a very mild case of coronavirus positive,” the singer added. “They said you can stay at home and self quarantine and asked me to take some medications. But I didn’t want to do that with all my family members being very concerned for me. So, I got admitted to a hospital, my friends are here and taking good care of me.”
The singer also asked his fans and well-wishers to not panic about his healths as he was “in good hands and good health”. “Nobody should worry,” he added. “I’m perfectly fine, except for the cold and fever, which has also subsided. In two days, I would be discharged and back home. Thank you for the concern.”
SP Balasubrahmanyam has won six National Film Awards for his work in the music industry, according to NDTV. He has also been honoured with the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan. Since his singing debut in 1966 with the Telugu film, Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna, Balasubrahmanyam has recorded over 40,000 songs in 16 Indian languages.
India recorded 52,509 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, taking the total number of infections to 19,08,254. The toll rose by 857 to 39,795.
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