An eight-month-old baby who travelled around 400 km from Arunachal Pradesh to Meghalaya via Assam for treatment died within hours of testing positive for coronavirus, reported Times of India.
The baby boy was referred to the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) from Arunachal Pradesh's Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences for the treatment of an ailment.
His parents managed to bring him to Shillong by road and arrived at the hospital during the wee hours on Monday. Meghalaya Health Minister AL Hek said,?"On their arrival, the swab samples of the baby were collected and sent for tests. The baby boy tested positive for COVID-19 and later died in the evening."
However, both the parents and their driver tested negative for the highly contagious virus. The baby's unfortunate demise takes Meghalaya's COVID-19 death toll to two, claim reports.
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Meghalaya's first COVID-19 death was recorded on April 15 and, so far, the state has 89 cases of coronavirus. Out of these 89, 44 are presently undergoing treatment and 43 have recovered. 22 of the active cases were detected at the BSF headquarters in the state.
Babies are extremely vulnerable to the highly contagious disease and several have lost their lives to the same. A two-day old newborn baby passed away due to COVID-19 in Faridabad in May.?Another two-month-old baby succumbed to the disease in Pune last month.?
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If you or anyone you know has a baby around, please ensure that he/she is protected at all costs and does not come in contact with anyone from outside. If someone in the house is stepping out, they should maintain maximum physical distance from the baby. Proper safety and hygiene protocol should be followed at all times.
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