Pregnant woman, toddler die at quarantine centres in Chhattisgarh

A one-and-a-half-year-old daughter of a migrant labourer and a pregnant woman died at coronavirus quarantine centres in two districts of Chhattisgarh, officials said on Thursday. While the pregnant woman died in Gariaband district on Thursday morning, the death of the child was reported from Gaurela-Penrda-Marwahi district on Wednesday, they said.

Bhagwati Yadav (27), a migrant worker, died in the quarantine centre set up by Dharnighoda village panchayat. She had returned with her parents from Telangana on May 14. She was shifted to the district hospital in Raipur for treatment but brought back to the quarantine centre on May 21, a local official said.

"She was under observation but this morning she died. The body was sent for postmortem to Mainpur and the report is awaited," he said.

A one-and-a-half-year-old girl died at the quarantine centre at Tikarkala village under Gaurela police station area, a local police official said. Her father had returned to Bilaspur on May 17 from Bhopal by a Shramik special train. He was shifted to a quarantine centre in Pendra from where he escaped on May 18 to his native village, he said. When residents of his village complained about it to local officials, Singh was shifted to the quarantine centre in Tikarakala with his wife and the infant daughter, the police official said. 

On Wednesday, after breastfeeding the child, the mother went for taking a bath leaving the child behind.  When she returned, she found the child was hiccuping and having problem breathing, he said. The girl was rushed to a local Community Health Centre where doctors declared her brought dead, the official said. Her swab sample was sent for coronavirus test.

"Prima facie it seems the child choked to death due to air blockage after milk entered her nose. But the exact cause of death will be known after post-mortem report comes," said Dr Abhimanyu Singh, Nodal Officer (COVID-19) of the district.