Newborn baby tests positive for coronavirus in London

A newborn baby is believed to be the world’s youngest person to have caught coronavirus in the UK. Two patients had tested positive for the virus, said North Middlesex University Hospital.

The two patients are the baby and the mother, the Sun newspaper reported.

The hospital said, “One has been transferred to a specialist centre and one is being treated in an isolation room.

“The safety of our patients and staff is our top priority, so in following guidance from Public Health England, we are regularly deep cleaning the areas where the patients are cared for and staff who were in close contact with these patients were advised to self-isolate.”

A special needs school has closed for a deep clean after it was reported that a staff member has a “strongly suspected” case of coronavirus.

The headteacher, Joolz Scarlett of Manor Green School in Maidenhead said in a statement on Thursday, “We have a member of staff with a strongly suspected case of coronavirus.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said Europe is now the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.

Over 5,000 people have died across the world and almost 140,000 are infected with the virus across 127 countries.

WHO director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a conference on Friday, the death toll is a “tragic milestone.”

He said, “Europe has now become the epicentre of the pandemic, with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from China.