The woman is the first COVID-19 infected woman to give birth to a baby in the state (Representational)
A team of doctors at a state-run hospital in Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday successfully conducted a caesarean section on a pregnant woman who is infected with coronavirus, a senior official said.
The woman delivered a boy at around 7.20 PM at Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS), the hospital's Deputy Chief Medical Superintendent Dr Taw Kaki said.
She is the first coronavirus infected woman to give birth to a baby in the Northeastern state.
"Both the mother and the baby are doing fine. They are now together. As she is a COVID-19 patient, we will have to take a decision on whether or not the newborn will remain with the mother," Kaki said.
The woman, who was initially admitted at the Rama Krishna Mission Hospital, was referred to TRIHMS on Tuesday after she tested positive for COVID-19.
"The woman will be treated like other Covid-19 patients and will be kept in the hospital till she recovers from the infection," TRIHMS Director Dr Moji Jini told reporters.
"She is in the terminal stage of pregnancy. The team of doctors decided to conduct a caesarean section as per the standard operating procedure. This is her third pregnancy," Kaki said.
TRIHMS is the lone medical college in the state. The RKM Hospital authorities suspended all the services till July 23 after detection of the COVID positive case.
Hospital secretary Swami Vishweshananda said that the OPD, emergency section, labour room and operation theatre will remain closed for three days for sanitisation and screening of health staff for contact tracing.
Jini said that coronavirus cases are rising in the state but the morbidity rate is quite low with only three fatalities which is a good sign and most of the cases are asymptomatic.
Of the total 790 COVID-19 cases in the state, 502 are now active.
Jini said that the government and the health authorities are doing their best to trace the primary and secondary contacts of the positive persons to contain the spread of the virus.
He said that though TRIHMS was converted to a dedicated COVID hospital earlier, arrangements has to be changed in view of the need of other patients.
"Now a block of it has been dedicated to treat coronavirus patients," Jini said.
Dr Jini added that keeping in view the surge in COVID-19 cases in the Capital Complex, the TRIHMS authorities had requested the state government to identify a suitable place to establish another dedicated hospital.
"Accordingly, the state government has earmarked the newly constructed MLA apartment at Chimpu, near here, which will be converted to a hospital. There will be 20 ICU beds and 30-40 normal beds to keep COVID-19 patients. It will start functioning within a few days," he added.