Union Minister of State for Defence and AYUSH Shripad Naik is currently stable, but his recovery could take a "long time", a Manipal Hospital official said on Tuesday.

Consultant oncologist at Goa's Manipal Hospital and Naik's personal friend Shekhar Salkar also said, that Naik had tested negative for Covid-19 late on Monday and as per norm another test has been conducted to re-confirm his Covid status, results of which would be available late on Tuesday.