Coronavirus: Second newborn tests positive at hospital in Norfolk

18 March 2020, 18:42

The baby was tested positive for the virus at a hospital in Norfolk
The baby was tested positive for the virus at a hospital in Norfolk. Picture: PA
Rachael Kennedy

By Rachael Kennedy

A newborn baby in Norfolk has become the second in the UK to test positive for coronavirus.

The child is being treated at James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston, Norfolk, and is one of three new cases of Covid-19 that have been identified.

In a statement, the trust said all three patients were in isolation and "extensive contact tracing" was now under way.

It added: "Close contacts will be given health advice about symptoms and what to do if they become unwell in the 14 days after they had contact with the confirmed case."

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The new incident came after a mother and her newbown were diagnosed at the weekend in a separate case believed to be the youngest patient with the illness in the UK.

They were tested at North Middlesex Hospital and have since been transferred to Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in London.

On Monday, the parents of a nine-month-old boy said their son had been diagnosed - despite neither of them feeling unwell.

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Speaking to Sky News, Myroslava Coates said her son Cassian had tested positive for the illness after she took him to a doctor in Manchester over a fever.

She said: "We weren't expecting that. Cassian had a fever and cold but not the cough and symptoms everyone was talking about.

"We were told to go home to self-isolate for two weeks and keep giving him Calpol as if it was a cold."

The news comes as 104 people across the UK have died from the virus.

In addition, 676 more people in the UK tested positive for the virus, bringing the total to 2,626.

Globally, more than 200,000 people have contracted the disease, while more than 8,000 have lost their lives.