Good news comes in small packages and sometimes, twice. The Chembur couple, whose joy at becoming parents for the first time was nipped in the bud when their newborn tested positive for coronavirus shortly after birth on March 27, heaved a sigh of relief as their bundle of joy tested negative for the second time on Friday, as did his mother. These glad tidings meant the duo came home from Kasturba Hospital on Saturday.
The baby and his mother had contracted the infection within hours of his birth and were admitted to Kasturba two days later. The father had tested negative and was kept in isolation.
On March 26, the mother was admitted to a private hospital in Chembur for delivery. It was a caesarean section delivery and the mother and the baby were kept in a special room of the hospital, booked by the family to avert any eventuality that might have arised out of the corona pandemic.
But litttle did they know that the room had earlier been occupied by a corona patient, infecting both the mother and the baby. Dr Prithviraj Chavan, the assistant municipal commissioner of Chembur (M west ward) confirmed the news of their recovery.
Talking to the the ‘Free Press Journal’, he said, “The mother and the infant are healthy and have been discharged. This comes after the duo tested negative for the second consecutive time.” So, in the space of eight days, the family welcomed the infant for the second time and were proud that he had triumphed the battle against the decease.
“Right now, our happiness knows no bounds. We have no words to describe it. We feel blessed that our child is back home safe,” said the baby’s father, a hotelier, who was also discharged from the hospital.
“My son and wife have defeated the deadly virus. I am thankful to the doctors and other staff at Kasturba Hospital who helped recover fast. They were prompt in treatment and gave special care to my son. Even the ward officials were very helpful,” he said.
However, ward officials were unsure of taking action against the private hospital for its alleged failure to inform the family that the special room occupied by the mother had been previously used by a corona patient.
“No hospital would purposely risk the lives of their patients. The same applies in the current instance. The private hospital in question did not deliberately do so. Thus, we won’t be taking any action against them. We only have sealed it, as of now,” said Dr Chavan.
