Moscow: Members of Russia's Alliance of Doctors came to Pokrov prison on Tuesday to demand opposition leader Alexei Navalny is seen by an independent doctor after he complained about pain in his leg and back.
"We need to get him (Navalny) to the hospital, in the specialised hospital," Navalny's personal physician Anastasiya Vasilyeva told the AP.
Read: US sets sanctions over Russia opposition leader’s poisoning
She said the 44-year-old had a cough and a fever and needed a scan of his lungs.
"God forbid, a coronavirus (infection) could happen in the prison. This is quite possible," she added.
In an Instagram post Monday, Navalny said that three of 15 people in his room at the penal colony were diagnosed with tuberculosis.
He noted that he had a strong cough and a fever of 38.1 Celsius (100.6 Fahrenheit).
On March 31, Navalny declared that he had gone on hunger strike in protest at a lack of medical care.
Read: Putin critic Navalny transferred to penal colony
In February, Navalny was sentenced to several years in prison.
The Russian judiciary accuses him of violating reporting requirements in an earlier criminal case while he was recovering in Germany from an assassination attempt involving the nerve agent Novichok.
According to a survey by independent pollsters Levada, just under a third of Russians, or 29 per cent, consider the verdict "rather unfair".
Significantly more respondents, or 48 per cent, on the other hand, thought that Navalny's conviction was probably justified.
Last August, Navalny fell into a coma after collapsing during a domestic flight.
Read: European Union sanctions four Russian individuals
He was treated for weeks at the Charite hospital in Berlin.
The prominent opposition figure blames a "hit squad" of the FSB domestic intelligence service, under the command of President Vladimir Putin, for the attempt on his life.
(With input from agencies)
