Coronavirus crisis: Six-week-old baby dies in US as global COVID-19 numbers near one million

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A six-week-old baby has died from coronavirus, the youngest reported victim, as the number of people infected with the virus globally pushes towards one million.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont confirmed the tragedy, saying the baby died late last week.

“It is with heartbreaking sadness today that we can confirm the first paediatric fatality in Connecticut linked to #COVID19,” Mr Lamont said.

“A six-week-old newborn from the Hartford area was brought unresponsive to a hospital late last week and could not be revived.”

Mr Lamont said testing on Tuesday, local time, confirmed the baby had the virus.

It was not immediately clear if the newborn had any underlying health conditions.

“This is a virus that attacks our most fragile without mercy,” he said.

“This also stresses the importance of staying home and limiting exposure to other people. Your life and the lives of others could literally depend on it. Our prayers are with the family at this difficult time.”

Mr Lamont said he believed the baby was one of the youngest victims of the disease.

“Testing confirmed last night that the newborn was COVID-19 positive. This is absolutely heartbreaking,” he said.

“We believe this is one of the youngest lives lost anywhere due to complications relating to COVID-19.”

COVID-19 world numbers

The World Health Organization also warned coronavirus was not just a disease for the elderly after a 13-year-old boy was killed in England.

“We have reports of the deaths of children, one in China and one in America,” said Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, from the WHO’s emergency diseases unit.

It came as America’s death toll continued to climb and hospitals reported they were overwhelmed.

US President Donald Trump last night warned America was facing “a hell of a bad two weeks” and there would be more than 2000 deaths a day within a fortnight.

The country needed to brace for a best-case scenario of at least 100,000 deaths, and up to 240,000, Mr Trump said.

Worldwide, more than 900,000 people have been infected and more than 45,000 have died, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University, though the real figures are believed to be much higher because of testing shortages, differences in counting the dead and large numbers of mild cases that have gone unreported.

World Health Organization director Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was “deeply concerned about the rapid escalation and global spread of infection”.

“Over the past five weeks, we have witnessed a near exponential growth in the number of new cases reaching almost every country, territory and area,” he said.

“The number of deaths has more than doubled in the past week. In the next few days, we will reach one million confirmed cases and 50,000 deaths.”