ILOILO City – A four-month-old baby boy in Buenavista town became Guimaras’ youngest person so far to contract SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
“Posible nga nalatnan (ang baby) sang 25-year-old (niya) nga tatay nga nag-positive sadto. Pero nagwa naman sa repeat test sang tatay nga nag-negative siya,” Mayor Eugene Reyes told Panay News.
The baby boy was swabbed for COVID-19 last week while his test result came out earlier this week.
His mother also underwent swab testing but yielded negative for the virus.
The father, meanwhile, experienced fever on Aug. 7 and submitted himself to swab testing on Aug. 10. He tested positive for COVID-19 the next day.
Reyes said the three went to Iloilo City on July 29 to visit a pediatrician after the baby experienced coughing, but the hospital where the doctor works was on lockdown that day.
After that, the family decided to stay in Rizal Estanzuela, a barangay in City Proper district which is near the Iloilo Fish Port Complex, before returning to Buenavista on July 31.
Reyes said the father is now home while the four-month-old baby boy, who is asymptomatic, and the mother are in the isolation facility of the municipality.
The mother is taking care of the baby very well, the mayor added.
According to the Province of Guimaras’ COVID-19 bulletin on Facebook, Buenavista has 29 cases as of Aug. 19. Sixteen are active.
COVID-19 is the infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus. This new virus and disease were unknown before the outbreak began in Wuhan, China in December 2019.
The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, tiredness, and dry cough. Some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhea. These symptoms are usually mild and begin gradually. Some people become infected but don’t develop any symptoms and don’t feel unwell.
COVID-19 can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales. /PN
