Official — President is now fine

AN irregular heartbeat due to hypertension (high blood pressure) has been diagnosed as the cause of President George Maxwell Richards’ mystery illness and, contrary to certain media reports, the President’s ailment was not life-threatening. The President was admitted to the St Clair Medical Centre on Thursday “for the investigation of a minor complaint.” In a statement yesterday, the Office of the President indicated that the centre’s doctors evaluated Richards and he “was found to have an irregularity of the heartbeat due to the effects of hypertension.” “The irregularity has since been corrected and the doctors in attendance are pleased with the results. His Excellency’s condition is described as good. While at the institution, the President will use the opportunity to undergo further routine investigations.

His Excellency is expected to be discharged soon,” the statement added. The statement was supported by the President’s son, Dr Mark Richards, who said that his father was doing well, would be kept overnight for observation, and could be discharged today. A presidential officer told Newsday that he visited the President yesterday and “His Excellency is in good spirits and doesn’t look the least bit ill.” President Richards appeared to be in good health when he attended a mass at the Holy Trinity Cathedral on Wednesday to commemorate World AIDS Day 2004. Prime Minister Patrick Manning was informed about the President’s condition on Thursday and briefly visited Richards yesterday afternoon before going to Parliament.

A Government official said the visit lasted about ten minutes and Manning was pleased to learn from the doctors that the President’s was doing well. Another Government official said Richards would undergoing additional tests during the course of the day, but he could not say when the President would be discharged. He expressed regret that certain media reports had relied on questionable sources to ascertain information about the President’s health. Security inside and outside of the St Clair Medical Centre remained heavy yesterday and centre chief executive officer Ian Kalloo said a report about a newspaper reporter attempting to breach security to gain access to the President would be looked into.