LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis was hospitalized in Los Angeles this morning with bacterial pneumonia.
Dukakis, who teaches each winter quarter at UCLA, began experiencing respiratory symptoms and was admitted to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center Friday night, his son, John Dukakis, told the Boston Globe.
The 86-year-old former governor was tested twice for coronavirus and both tests came back negative, his son told the newspaper.
Dukakis's condition is improving, but he is not allowed visitors due to the precautions taken by the hospital in response to the coronavirus pandemic, his son said.
“He sounded better (Tuesday) than he did (Monday),” John Dukakis told the Globe Tuesday night. “He's only upset that he doesn't have a copy of any newspaper. There's not much he can do, so he's a little bored. This is not his kind of thing.”
Dukakis, who served as governor from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991, was hoping to be out of the hospital in the next few days, his son said.
The former governor has served as a visiting professor at UCLA's Luskin School of Public Affairs since 1991. His research has focused on national health care policy reform and what national leaders can learn from state reform efforts, according to the university's website.
In 1988, Dukakis was the Democratic nominee for president, losing to then-Vice President George H. W. Bush.
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