After travelling 400 km for COVID-19 treatment, infant dies in Shillong

Meghalaya recorded its second death due to coronavirus after an eight-month-old baby from Arunachal Pradesh passed away on Monday. The first death in the state was recorded on April 15, after a 69-year-old doctor, Dr. John L Sailo Ryntathiang, who was the director of Bethany Hospital in Shillong, succumbed to the virus within 24 hours.

Shillong:An eight-month-old baby who travelled around 400 km from Arunachal Pradesh to Meghalaya via Assam for treatment died within hours of testing positive for coronavirus, officials said on Tuesday.

The baby boy was referred to the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) here from Arunachal Pradesh's Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences for treatment of some ailment, they said.

As per reports, his parents brought him all the way to Shillong by road. They arrived at the hospital in the early hours of Monday.

"On their arrival, the swab samples of the baby were collected and sent for tests. The baby boy tested positive for COVID-19 and later died in the evening, Meghalaya Health Minister A L Hek said.

Both of his parents and their driver, however, tested negative for the disease, he said. The baby is the second COVID-19 patient to die in Meghalaya, officials said.

The first death in the state was recorded on April 15, after a 69-year-old doctor, Dr. John L Sailo Ryntathiang, who was the director of Bethany Hospital in Shillong, succumbed to the virus within 24 hours.

So far, the state has reported 89 COVID-19 cases. Of them, 44 are undergoing treatment and 43 have recovered, besides the two deaths. Of the active cases, 22 were detected at the BSF headquarters here.

PTI