Babies delivered to women with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infections should be tested for coronavirus, as they may be at higher risk for severe forms of the disease compared to older children, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in new guidelines released Wednesday.
The data remains limited, reports CNN, but the CDC says babies are likely exposed to the virus through respiratory droplets from their mothers, caregivers or visitors. Science is unclear, however, if babies are exposed to the virus before or during labor, so doctors should presume such newborns have an infection, said the CDC.
Such newborns should also be isolated from healthy babies and kept apart from their mothers to reduce their risk, but if the mother's test results prove to be negative, the separation can end.
The CDC is suggesting newborns be tested 24 hours after they are born and again the next day if the first test is negative, and in places where testing is limited, newborn babies should be prioritized. However, newborn babies will not need a negative test to be discharged from the hospital.
Most infants who do test positive, like with older children, are either asymptomatic or have a mild form of the disease. In some cases, though, babies have had to be put on a ventilator.
Meanwhile, the CDC says healthcare providers should use protective equipment when handling the newborns, and if there is no room to separate a mother with an infection from a child, she should wear a face mask. However, masks are not recommended for any child under the age of 2.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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