Two babies of two months old are among the children admitted to the viral disease since the outbreak of Covid-19 in South Africa in Western Cape hospitals.
The two babies, a boy and a girl, are currently being treated at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town.
The two babies are unrelated.
Western Cape Health Department spokesman Mark van der Heever says the babies were very ill when they were admitted. They had symptoms that made it difficult for them to breathe and needed oxygen. They both tested positive for the virus.
“They are no longer getting oxygen and are recovering well,” says Van der Heever.
At Mitchell’s Plain Hospital in Lentegeur, a 12-year-old boy was also recently discharged after being treated for Covid-19. He also had to get oxygen but has since recovered.
Van der Heever says there is another nine-year-old girl in the hospital with bronchiolitis.
“She was tested for the coronavirus, but we are still waiting for the results.”
According to Van der Heever, people admitted to hospital are usually very ill and show mild to moderate symptoms of the coronavirus. They usually also have breathing problems.
As of Friday, 67 children under the age of 19 were admitted to Western Cape hospitals with Covid-19.
He could not say at which hospitals the children were treated.
