Coronavirus patient gives birth in Lagos

A 40-year-old woman infected by coronavirus has given birth to a baby in Lagos.

The management of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) announced on Monday, April 27, 2020 that the patient gave birth to a baby girl.

"A team of LUTH doctors, anesthetists, and nurses delivered a woman with COVID-19 of a baby girl this afternoon.

"The 40-year-old mother gave birth to a 3.3kg baby. Our gratitude goes to these gallant men and women and all warriors making the nation proud in the face of this scourge," the hospital's statement read.

The chairman of LUTH's Medical Advisory Committee, Prof. Wasiu Adeyemo, told The Punch that the baby will soon be tested for COVID-19.

"The chance of the baby being COVID-19 is unlikely but we have to take her sample for testing, but she is doing well.

"The baby is going to be with her mother in a separate ward and room in our isolation centre," he said.

There have been a few cases where newborns tested positive for the coronavirus in other parts of the world like Wuhan, China where the disease was first detected in December 2019.

Nigeria's youngest patient on record is a six-week-old baby who recovered two weeks later in March.

Nigeria has recorded 1,273 coronavirus cases in 32 states and the FCT, as of April 26.

239 people have recovered, but 40 people have died.