Hanoi baby born in coronavirus quarantine zone

The 21-year-old mother underwent a C-section for the delivery, said Vuong Trung Kien, director of the Thach That District Hospital. As many as 20 doctors and nurses participated in the operation, he added.

The baby girl weighed 3.1 kg at birth. Both the mother and the baby are doing well, Kien said.

Doctors pose with a baby girl born on March 5, 2020 at a Covid-19 quarantine zone in the Thach That District Hospital, Hanoi. Photo courtesy of the Thach That District Hospital.

The mother, a native of the northern province of Thai Nguyen, had returned from South Korea to Vietnam on February 27. She was 39 weeks pregnant then.

As of Thursday morning, Hanoi had gone more than three weeks without any new Covid-19 suspects.

Under Vietnam’s current regulations, every one entering the country from mainland China, Italy, Iran and South Korea have to be quarantined for at least 14 days. The four countries are currently the worst-hit by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

South Korea has reported over 5,700 infection cases, second only to mainland China, where the disease was first detected last December.

In Vietnam, all 16 persons confirmed with Covid-19 virus infection so far have been discharged from the hospital.

The novel coronavirus has spread to 85 countries and territories to date, killing 3,287 people, mostly in mainland China, followed by Italy (107), Iran (92) and South Korea (35).