Three-day old baby in Tripura dies after swab taken for Covid-19 test, govt orders probe

The fbaby’s parents said he started bleeding from the nose after his swab sample was taken and died shortly thereafter.

The Tripura government on Thursday ordered a departmental inquiry into the death of a three-day old baby boy at a hospital who died soon allegedly after his swab was taken for Covid-19 test.

The newborn allegedly died after his swab sample was taken for a Covid-19 test.(Representative Photo/Getty images)

The inquiry order came a day after the baby’s parents accused doctors of being responsible for the death claiming that the baby was healthy till collection of swab samples for Covid-19 test. The baby underwent the test as his mother is also Covid-19 positive.

The baby was born at state-run Govind Ballabh Pant (GBP) Hospital on August 10 and he died on Wednesday allegedly after his swab samples were collected.

“A three-member team has been formed to inquire into the death of the baby. The team will submit its report in the next three days. We will know the details about the case after getting their report,” said director of Health Department Dr. Subhasish Debbarma.

He added that he was not aware of the baby’s Covid-19 test reports but said that his mother had tested positive.

According to the baby’s mother and other relatives, the baby started bleeding from the nose after swab samples were collected from his nose. They claimed that the doctors on duty assured them that he would be alright but he died after sometime.

Additional chief secretary SK Rakesh told reporters that the baby’s death was not related to collection of swab samples. But authorities were waiting for the autopsy report to know the cause of death.

Earlier on August 2, a two-day old baby girl, also a Covid-19 positive, had died. Till now, 44 Covid-19 patients have died in Tripura while two died by suicide.