DOH probes newborn’s death to COVID-19

SAN PEDRO CITY –– The death of a 23-day-old infant from Batangas province is being considered a special case due to how the infant had contracted the coronavirus.

The infant, from Barangay Lodlod in Lipa City, is so far the youngest fatality due to the viral disease.

Lipa City Mayor Eric Africa said the male child died April 5, but his test result, showing him positive of the virus, came out only late last week.

Eduardo Janairo, chief of the Department of Health (DOH) in Calabarzon, said before the baby died, he was “swabbed” for specimen sample as he also had pneumonia.

Janairo said there was no evidence yet of the virus being transmitted from a pregnant mother to her unborn child.

Janairo said they were more concerned about whether the child’s parents, both of them asymptomatic, would test positive or negative of the virus.

Health officials were also investigating where and how the mother had given birth.

More cases

More cases of the virus infection were traced to Batangas province, with at least 60 people sick, of whom 13, including the baby, had died.

The number of cases in Calabarzon had reached 440, as of April 10, the DOH said.

Rizal province still topped n the region with 154 cases and 21 deaths.

In Cavite, 97 people were infected, out of which 16 had died.

In Laguna, health authorities recorded 108 cases with nine deaths.

In Quezon, the number of cases rose to 21, out of which four people had died.

The DOH, meanwhile, said 31 people in the region had recovered from the disease.

LZB