New Delhi (NVI): Two newborn infants have been diagnosed with novel coronavirus in Wuhan, according to the Chinese state media, even as the death toll due to the deadly virus soared past 560.
The youngest baby was diagnosed just 30 hours after being born to a mother who had also been infected, reports said.
However, experts have noted that it may be a case of “vertical transmission”, referring to infections passed from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth or immediately after. The infant is the youngest person recorded as being infected by the virus, according to media reports.
Ten more people on a cruise ship off Japan have been tested positive for the new coronavirus, Chinese local media said, raising the number of infections detected on the ship to 20.
Another report in foreign media said that more than 7,300 people are being quarantined on two cruise ships off Hong Kong and Japan amid concerns that passengers and crew were inadvertently exposed to the Wuhan coronavirus by infected passengers.
There are a total of 28,273 confirmed cases and 565 deaths globally, the vast majority of which are in mainland China. Some countries have seen a surge in cases; Japan now has 45 cases, the highest number for a country outside China.
