23-day-old baby died of coronavirus in the Philippines

A 23-day-old baby died in the Philippines affected by COVID-19, in Lipa, a city about 70 kilometers south of Manila, according to the mayor of that town, Eric Africa, through an account on the social network Facebook.

The newborn, one of the cases of the youngest deceased baby by coronavirus in the world, He died on April 5, but the positive result of the COVID-19 test was not known until this Thursday.

Another baby of just four days diagnosed with COVID-19 died on Wednesday in Brazil. due to respiratory failure after being born prematurely; Y one of five months died the next day in Bolivia from coronavirus after spending a week in intensive care.

The Philippine Health Department has yet to confirm the death of Lipa’s baby in its daily bulletin, which as of last night listed 4,076 cases, 203 deaths and 124 recovered patients.

The island of Luzon, the largest in the Philippines, has been under strict quarantine since March 17 since it is the main focus of COVID-19 in the country, although cases have been registered in all the Philippine provinces.

The Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte, ordered last Monday to extend the quarantine in Luzón – where 57 million people live, more than half of the Philippine population – until April 30 to consolidate efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, health authorities have warned that contagion curve containment is still a long way off, as positive cases rise every day as the Philippines increases its ability to perform diagnostic tests.

The government has announced that starting next week the Philippines will be able to carry out massive tests to isolate positive cases, including asymptomatic cases, thanks to the establishment of laboratories throughout the country and the arrival of hundreds of thousands of diagnostic tests donated by China, South Korea and Brunei.

Meanwhile, the United States has become the country with the highest number of deaths per day from the pandemic. The North American nation recorded 1,783 deaths from coronavirus in the last 24 hours and the total amounts to 16,513.

The country overtook Spain during the day as the second with the highest number of fatalities. It also has the highest number of transmissions recorded by far, with more than 462,000. New York City remains the primary focus of broadcasts.

(With information from EFE)