ILOILO City – Much to the relief of health authorities, the newborn baby of a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infected mother tested negative for the viral illness.
The mother was a 35-year-old jail officer of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) 6.
Her baby girl’s laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 result was released last week, according to Senior Jail Superintendent Gilbert Peremne of BJMP-6
He said a private hospital is now trying its best to ensure the safety of the baby while waiting for the asymptomatic mother to recover in isolation at St. Therese-MTCC Hospital – one of the city government’s identified quarantine facilities.
According to Peremne, the baby will remain in the hospital for seven days.
The baby and mother will both undergo a second coronavirus test and would be allowed contact only after their negative test results are released.
To recall, the jail officer was found positive on Aug. 8. She was subjected to reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test shortly after giving birth on Aug. 4.
According to Peremne, prior to giving birth, the jail officer underwent genetic test where she was tested negative for COVID-19.
This puzzled the BJMP official, saying the personnel had not reported to their office since Feb. 14.
As part of contract tracing, Peremne said the patient’s husband and their two children underwent swab tests and currently waiting for the results.
“All family members of our personnel are under quarantine. They were all tested,” Peremne added.
The female jail officer was the fifth BJMP-6 personnel infected with the viral disease.
Peremne earlier declared the BJMP-6 as free from COVID-19 on July 16. Four of the agency’s employee who tested positive for the disease all recovered and their close contacts tested negative.
The last BJMP personnel to be cleared was a 52-year-old male from La Paz district. He was initially referred to the Western Visayas Medical Center.
“We are hoping this would be the last case in our office and that the test result of her family would turn out negative since her husband is also our personnel,” Peremne said.
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.
These droplets also land on objects and surfaces around the person. Other people then catch COVID-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth.
Chinese researchers from hospitals in Wuhan University noted that there is a possibility of mother to child transmission of the coronavirus disease.
This was based on a study on samples of seven neonates of positive mothers who had indications of antibodies transmitted from their mothers to fight against the virus.
The researchers, however, noted that there is a need for a large scale study to determine if positive pregnant women can transmit the virus before, during and after delivery. (With BBC/PN)