Mother of newborn with COVID-19, Israel’s youngest patient, also has virus

The mother of a newborn baby who contracted the coronavirus has also tested positive for COVID-19, the hospital where she is being treated said Wednesday.

Both the baby and the mother are in good condition, according to Wolfson Medical Center in Holon. They are being cared for in a special isolation ward.

The hospital announced Tuesday that the baby, then 8-days-old, was infected, making him the youngest coronavirus patient in Israel.

He had been admitted to the hospital with a fever and subsequently tested positive for COVID-19.

The hospital said Tuesday that the mother was not showing any symptoms but had also been tested.

The baby, from the city of Beit Shemesh, was born at Hadassah Hospital, Mount Scopus. It was not clear where he was infected.

As of Wednesday, there have been 12,200 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Israel, with 126 deaths.

Almost all of those who have died from COVID-19 in Israel have been elderly and suffered from preexisting conditions, according to hospital officials. The novel coronavirus has been spreading quickly in nursing homes around the country, raising intense concern for the safety of elderly residents.

Experts have pointed to the relatively slow rise in the number of patients on ventilators as a source of potential encouragement, and also note the relatively slow rise in the number of new cases.

More than 125,000 people have died globally of the coronavirus.