Days after the death of a 45-day-old infant who was undergoing treatment for COVID-19 in Telangana, as many as 20 primary contacts of the baby have tested negative for the virus.
Earlier this week, an infant boy belonging to Abhangapur village of Narayanpet district in southern Telangana died at Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad.
The infant had tested positive for COVID-19 at Niloufer Hospital, where he was being treated for ailments that had been prevalent since his birth in March.
According to officials, the parents of the baby took him to three hospitals in Mahbubnagar and three in Hyderabad before he was admitted to Niloufer Hospital. All six hospitals have initiated containment procedure.
After he tested positive, he was transferred to Gandhi Hospital, the nodal hospital for coronavirus treatment. According to doctors at Gandhi Hospital, where he succumbed to the illness, the infant had a weak immune system and had contracted pneumonia.
Narayanpet was one among the few districts in Telangana that had no COVID-19 cases until the infant tested positive. Soon after the baby’s case came to light, the primary contacts of the infant were sent to a quarantine facility.
The 45-day-old baby was the youngest COVID-19 victim in the country. The youngest patient so far is a 23-day-old baby who tested positive on 7 April.
Narayanpet District Collector D Hari Chandana told The News Minute that all primary contacts of the deceased infant have tested negative for the novel coronavirus. “All contacts in the district are negative for COVID-19. They will be in quarantine for 15 days to be extra cautious,” she said.
The district currently does not have any active coronavirus cases. When asked about the possible source of infection for the infant, the Collector said, “We are doing a complete thermal screening of the entire village. If anyone shows a change in vitals, we will examine and probe further”.
The Abhangapur village has been under complete lockdown and authorities have been keeping vigil, besides providing essential goods. 651 residents of the village were also scanned.
Earlier, after the baby had tested positive, the superintendent of Niloufer Hospital had issued an order directing all medical and paramedical staff, including professors and sanitation staff who worked on the night shift of 15 April and all shifts on the 16th and 17th, to be quarantined immediately.
(Published in an arrangement with The News Minute.)
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