KURNOOL: A woman who delivered a male baby after testing positive for coronavirus was discharged on Thursday from the Kurnool Government General Hospital (GGH) after her recovery.
Amid cheers and applause, the doctors handed the baby to her on a day when the district, which has the most Covid-19 cases in Andhra Pradesh (591), did not register even one new case.
The 22-year-old woman, a contact of a person who returned from the Nizamuddin Markaz, hails from Old Town in Kurnool town, which is a COVID-19 hotspot.
She was admitted to the GGH on March 27 after she showed symptoms of the virus, and the next day tested positive. The following day, a team of doctors led by Dr Srilatha performed a C-section and delivered the baby.
Since the mother had Covid-19, the baby was separated from her and kept in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where he was fed cow milk. After two consecutive tests on the woman showed she had recovered, the baby was handed over and she was discharged.
This was the woman's first pregnancy, officials said, adding that both the mother and baby are doing well.
Apart from this woman, officials said two others who are being treated for COVID-19 have given birth at the hospital and the mothers and babies are healthy. They are yet to be discharged.
Meanwhile, 27 more COVID-19 patients were discharged from the hospital after their recovery on Thursday. They include 15 men and 12 women who are aged between 22 and 60 years.
The district, which turned out to be a hotbed for cases did not record a single case within the last 24 hours after nearly 40 days, giving the district administration some much-needed respite.
The district's first coronavirus case was reported on March 8 and the next one on April 4. The entire city and the second-biggest town in the district, Nandyal, apart from municipalities and rural areas, emerged as hotbeds of the virus and the district administration was on its toes to contain the spread of the virus. Since the VRDL labs became operational, the district administration has tested 25,560 samples.
Heaving a sigh of relief as no fresh cases were reported, District Collector G Veera Pandian said that for a fortnight, the district had been recording cases in double digits but now the number of active cases has reduced and more people are getting discharged.
"We are happy that not a single case was recorded today," he added. The Collector also handed over Rs 2,000 to those who got discharged, as per the government's policy to extend financial assistance to those who recover.