Lima (AFP)
A baby was born infected with the new coronavirus carried by his mother, Wednesday in Peru, announced the health authorities, who affirm that it is the "second case" of this type in the world.
"We tested the newborn and the result was positive. The mother had been admitted to the hospital for a caesarean section, before that she too had been subjected to a rapid test and the result was positive" at Covid -19, explained Dr Alvaro Bardalez to Canal N television.
"This is the first national case and the second worldwide a baby born with Covid-19," said the doctor, without specifying where the first case had been detected.
The mother was a carrier of the coronavirus, but without feeling any symptoms, and the child was "contaminated by his mother through the placenta", added in a press release the Peruvian organization of Social Security which administers more than 400 medical establishments in Peru.
The child, who weighed 3.16 kg at birth, was born in a hospital in the region of San Martin (center), where he was placed in solitary confinement with his mother.
"Both the mother and the baby are in stable condition," said Dr. Bardalez on RPP radio.
Since the onset of the pandemic on its territory on March 6, Peru, which has a population of 32 million, has recorded nearly 11,500 reported cases of Covid-19, of which more than 250 have been fatal.
© 2020 AFP