Philippines Records World’s Youngest Known Coronavirus Fatality
A 29-day-old infant is believed to have become the world’s youngest known victim of coronavirus after he contracted pneumonia in the Philippines.
Health minister Maria Rosario Vergeire confirmed on Tuesday that the baby boy had difficulty breathing and was rushed to hospital where he tested positive for COVID-19.
The child from Batangas died of late-onset sepsis – a blood infection occurring in infants younger than 90 days old – due to the respiratory infection.
The newborn is believed to be the youngest victim ever after a six-week-old baby died on March 26 in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. On April 6, a one-day-old newborn died in Louisiana after her mother contracted COVID-19 and went into premature labour. However, the deceased baby did not test positive for the disease.
The Philippines has 5,453 cases, the highest in Southeast Asia, and 349 deaths.
It was among the first countries in the region to impose drastic lockdown measures at an early stage, ordering half the population (90 million) into quarantine just five days after the first domestic transmission of the virus was detected on March 7.
