Pope Francis remains hospitalised to treat complex respiratory tract infection

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00:00Monday today essentially it's his fourth day in hospital and they expect him to

00:05stay longer as you mentioned and no specific time frame has been given they

00:10said that his drug treatment has been changed to deal with a complex clinical

00:16situation the Vatican spokesperson said that the tests that were conducted in

00:21hospital showed that he's suffering from poly microbial respiratory tract

00:26infection and that means the complexity of the situation not knowing exactly

00:32what it is is causing it but it's poly microbial as they have referred to it we

00:37don't know the details of whether it's viral or bacterial but that means an

00:41appropriate time in hospital is required and no time frame given now he's at

00:46Rome's a Gemelli Hospital the Vatican spokesperson also saying that on Monday

00:52he ate his breakfast he seemed to be in good spirits but of course now there

00:57will be changes to his schedule he was admitted on Friday after suffering from

01:02a bout of bronchitis for about a week and then they determined that he needed

01:08absolute rest in hospital he had a slight fever there over the weekend but

01:13that's gone and he did not preside over the Sunday Angelus prayer and blessing

01:21that he usually gives to pilgrims gathered at St. Peter's Square now for

01:25the Pope these weekly audiences are very important it's his chance to get close

01:30with the pilgrims but unfortunately he had to cancel it he also did not preside

01:35over Sunday mass for artists that was supposed to be held as part of the

01:40Catholic Church's Jubilee Year so key events have been missed and the Vatican

01:45has confirmed that he won't be taking part either in the blessing that happens

01:49every Wednesday as well so we know he's going to be in hospital and we don't

01:53know how long and as they put it the situation is quite complex now of course

01:59as Seema this is not the first time that the Pope has been hospitalized we've

02:03also seen recently that he's mostly wheelchair bound how concerning is his

02:10overall health well you're right I mean he is 88 years old he's been 12 years

02:18into his pontificate and he previously did spend three nights at the same

02:24hospital the Gemelli Hospital here in Rome in March 2023 for bronchitis but

02:29this time around it clearly is a longer stay for those respiratory issues we've

02:33seen him suffering on these issues particularly on the early months of the

02:37year in December 2023 he had to cancel a trip that he was planning to the United

02:43Arab Emirates to attend the COP 28 climate summit and again he also had a

02:50part of his large intestine remove in a operation back in 2021 so several health

02:57issues as you mentioned using a wheelchair he has had sciatica issues

03:03with his nerves as well as a bad knee but all of that never has stopped him

03:08from continuing his work the fact that he is now in hospital cancel the

03:13audience on Sunday as well as the coming one on Wednesday definitely has people

03:19concerned but the Vatican is saying he needs the rest he need to get he needs

03:23to get those meds and clearly the faithful as well as journalists will be

03:29keeping an eye out for all the bulletins that the Vatican will be releasing on

03:33his health status on a daily basis

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