8-month-old baby dies from COVID-19 in Meghalaya; death toll rises to 2

Guwahati: The COVID-19 death toll in Meghalaya rose to 2 on Monday after an eight-month-old baby who traveled around 400 km from Arunachal Pradesh to Meghalaya via Assam for treatment, died after testing positive for the respiratory disease.

The baby was referred to the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) in Meghalaya capital Shillong from Arunachal Pradesh's Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences for treatment, officials said. Following the referral, the baby's parents brought it all the way to Shillong by road.

"The number of deaths in Meghalaya has indeed risen to two after the unfortunate death of the 8-year-old baby, who passed away at 6 pm yesterday. The grieving family has now taken the body back to Arunachal Pradesh", Al Hek, the health minister of Meghalaya, informed The Sentinel Digital.

Hek informed that the family had arrived from Arunachal Pradesh yesterday in the morning. "The baby had symptoms of COVID-19, so she was admitted to the COVID-19 isolation ward at the NEIGHRIMS. After the baby tested positive, the parents and the driver of the vehicle they had come in were also tested, but they all tested negative. We are still baffled as to how the child could have contracted the virus. It still remains a big question mark. It is the most unfortunate occurrence. May the child rest in peace", he added. 

The health minister also informed that the situation in Meghalaya has taken on a grim turn. "Yesterday, we had the largest single-day spike of 16 cases. Today also, as many as 6 cases have been detected in the state -- thus, things have taken a rather alarming turn here."

The baby is the second COVID-19 patient to die in Meghalaya, officials said. The first death in the state -- the very first case in the state -- was recorded on April 15.

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