4-Month-Old Kerala Baby With Heart Problems, Pneumonia Dies Of COVID-19

Coronavirus Kerala: Nearly 500 COVID-19 cases have been reported from the southern state so far (File)

A four-month-old baby, who was being treated for the COVID-19 virus and had been diagnosed with heart problems at birth, died in Kerala's Kozhikode this morning. She was also suffering from pneumonia. The infant, who was from the Malappuram district, died at around 6 am at the Kozhikode Medical College.

"The four-month-old baby was admitted because she had breathing difficulties. The baby had heart disease from the time of birth and was being treated at a private hospital. We usually test patients with respiratory illness for COVID-19. This child tested positive. We tried our best but couldn't save her," Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja said.

Samples from the parents, both of whom are in quarantine, have been sent for coronavirus testing and the results are awaited. The source of infection for the child is unclear at this point.

"There's no foreign travel history. A distant relative had tested positive but that person was in strict quarantine. So we are checking various options. The child was also in and out of hospitals due to her heart illness since childhood," the Malappuram District Medical Officer told NDTV.

Kerala, which reported India's first novel coronavirus case back in January, has nearly 450 confirmed cases so far. Only three deaths have been linked to the infectious virus.

By comparison, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Delhi have reported nearly 50 per cent of all coronavirus cases in the country, with 445 deaths recorded between the three.

On Thursday the southern state, which has won praise for its handling of the health crisis, said it would conduct random antibody tests among police officers, health officials, door delivery agents and labourers.

"This is to ensure there is no community spread," Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, indicating the state was now ready for the next phase in the war on COVID-19 - to check for community transmission or when the trail of infection becomes untraceable.

It is, however, not yet clear how the state plans to conduct the tests, with question marks over both the RT-PCR method and the Rapid Test kits distributed by the ICMR (Indian Council for Medical Research).

Last week, amid consistent increase in the number of coronavirus cases nationwide, Kerala made the case for doubling the quarantine period of 14 days; the idea, a senior doctor and member of a state-appointed containment team, told NDTV, was because 95 per cent of 248 COVID-19 cases in Kannur district were asymptomatic.

"There was a case in Wuhan (the Chinese district where the coronavirus outbreak began in December last year) where symptoms appeared on the 27th day. At least five per cent of cases have incubation period longer than 14 days. That is the logic behind Kerala standing strong on a 28-day isolation period," Dr Mohammed Asheel said.