Baby with Covid dies after being 'abandoned' by parents who 'feared catching virus'

A baby with Covid died after being abandoned by its parents because they feared they would catch the virus, it has been reported.

The two-month-old child tested positive before dying on Sunday evening in the Shri Maharaja Gulab Singh Hospital in the Jammu region of India.

Medical Superintendent Dr Dara Singh said the baby was admitted at around 7am but died hours later.

“The baby was suffering from congenital heart disease and other problems and he died of cardiac arrest at around 8pm,” he said, reports India Today.

“Soon after cardiac arrest, [an] RAT test was done which came [back] positive, after which we asked his parents to undergo Covid test as well, but instead of going for testing, they ran away.”

The parents have continually failed to respond to calls from the hospital with the baby's body in the facility's mortuary, it has been reported.

The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir reported 3,733 new Covid-19 cases and 51 deaths on Monday.

Of these, 35 deaths were registered in Jammu division.

It comes as India postponed exams for trainee doctors and nurses on Monday, freeing them up to fight the world's biggest surge in coronavirus infections.