A 2-day-old baby who was born prematurely in South Africa has died from COVID-19, officials said Thursday.
The mother had tested positive for COVID-19 and the baby subsequently tested positive as well, according to a statement from Dr. Zweli Mkhize, South Africa’s health minister.
It’s the country’s first coronavirus-related neonatal mortality.
South Africa is the hardest-hit nation in Africa amid the coronavirus pandemic, with nearly 18.5% of the continent’s diagnosed cases of COVID-19, according to data released Monday evening by the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So far, South Africa has reported over 18,000 diagnosed cases of the disease with at least 339 deaths.
More than 92,000 people across all of Africa have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and at least 2,912 have died, according to a count kept by the African CDC.
