Baby born to coronavirus patient in Costa Rica tests negative for the virus

The first baby born in Costa Rica to a SARS-CoV-2-positive patient has tested negative for the coronavirus, the Costa Rican Social Security System announced.

The baby was born Saturday night at Hospital San Juan de Dios, a public hospital in San José.

“The outcome of the first delivery of with a patient who tested positive for COVID-19 was successful,” the Caja announced. “Today, mother and daughter are fine, and with all the personal protective measures will be able to go home soon.”

Monday, mom and baby were released from the hospital.

“The mother and the first baby delivered from a COVID-19-positive patient have already left the hospital,” the Caja said. “They are in very good health.”

Coronavirus protocols for babies born in Costa Rica

Babies born in public hospitals in Costa Rica receive a protective mask as part of measures to safeguard them from possible COVID-19 infection.

Tiny masks cover the newborn’s face while he or she remains in the hospital with the mother.

“We have taken into account the use of masks for the discharge of babies,” Rocío Cerdas, a nurse at the neonatology unit of Hospital México, the largest in Costa Rica, told AFP.

“We also use protocols that have been designed with studies that fellow doctors have carried out from different countries and have adopted rules that adapt to our health system,” he added.

Monica Morales, a mother with a newborn baby in her arms, highlighted precautionary measures to protect children in the midst of the new coronavirus pandemic.

She said the doctors had asked her “to be a little more cautious about contact with other people and to avoid leaving the house as much as possible and exposing the baby.”

Costa Rica has reduced the spread of COVID-19 to fewer than 10 new cases per day in recent weeks. The Health Ministry has totaled 705 known cases and six deaths.