Daijiworld Media Network - Gangtok (SHP)

Gangtok, Jun 15: Coronavirus has been infecting people irrespective of age and it was observed that people who are either too old or too young were more susceptible to the virus. In order to provide better coronavirus care, two Sikkhim women have swapped their children. In this case, one of the two women tested negative for the virus whereas her 27-month-old baby tested positive.

Doctors at the STNM Hospital have placed the youngest coronavirus patient in the state in the care of a woman, who also tested positive for COVID-19 but her six-year-old child did not.

It has been arranged that the 27-month-old baby's mother will look after the corona-negative child of the other woman, for the time being, the officials said.

"All the other family members of the six-year-old have tested positive for COVID-19. There was none to look after the child. Then we came to know of the woman whose baby tested positive but she is COVID-free. She was worried about her baby.

"So the two mothers opted to temporarily switch their babies for better care," a paediatrician at the STNM Hospital said.

Both the infant and the woman who tested positive for coronavirus have been placed in the isolation ward. Meanwhile, the COVID-free child and woman are lodged at the Paljor Namgyal Girls' Senior Secondary School quarantine facility in Gangtok, the officials said.

Sikkim has 63 active COVID-19 cases as of now and the major cause for swelling up of cases of infection is considered to be interstate travel.