A newborn diagnosed with Covid-19 has been admitted to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital , its medical director said on Thursday, as he cautioned that coronavirus cases in the national capital will peak in the next couple of weeks.
Dr Suresh Kumar, the medical director at LNJP Hospital, said during an interaction that wearing masks has been made “mandatory” at the facility. The 2,000-bed British-era facility is the largest hospital under the Delhi government.
“Children are not vaccinated, so we need to take precautions for them as they are getting symptoms like fever, cough, eye infection and stomach infection as well. This variant (XBB.1.16) is affecting children more.
An 18-day-old newborn has even been admitted to our hospital and the child is Covid positive,” he said. Four more children are admitted to the hospital, Kumar said.
It is better to wear masks in schools and public places and even senior citizens should wear masks. Precaution is surely better, he said. “We will see the peak of Covid cases in one-two weeks and the graph will go down from thereon,” Kumar said, adding, “We have made all arrangements in the hospital for patients, including children, as they are coming in more numbers with infection”.
Delhi’s single-day caseload additions on Wednesday breached the 1,000-mark for the first time in over seven months while the positivity rate stood at 23.8 per cent, according to data shared by the Health department.