Results of blood tests on former prime minister Patrick Manning, who is still warded at the San Fernando General Hospital, are yet to be released to the family.
In an interview yesterday, Manning’s wife, former education minister, Hazel Manning, said her husband’s condition continues to be stable. Asked when he will be released from hospital, Hazel said: “That is up to his doctors. They will know when he will be sent home.”
On his Facebook post yesterday, Hazel said her husband was “reasonably comfortable, chatty and jocular.
“We await final results of tests to confirm and manage the underlying cause of his illness,” she wrote. She also urged the nation to continue to keep the former Prime Minister in its prayers.
The post was shared 21 times up to news time and several people extended best wishes to Manning. The former Prime Minister has been warded in the new wing of the hospital after being admitted on Monday night.
Hospital staff said he was experiencing breathing problem and had a very low blood count. Manning underwent dental surgery recently and lost blood, a source said. Since his hospitalisation, only immediate family and friends are allowed on the private ward.
He suffered a stroke in January 2012 and temporarily lost his ability to speak and walk. A year later he suffered a seizure. He has been doing physiotherapy since then and has regained his ability to walk and speak.
Manning retired from politics in February 2015 when the PNM, then led by Rowley, was screening general election nominees for his former San Fernando East seat. He had represented San Fernando East from 1971 to 2015 and was prime minister from 1991-95 and 2001-10.