A PAIR of newborn twins in India has been named 'Corona' and 'Covid', after the Covid-19 coronavirus which has killed over 60,000 and infected over one million people worldwide.
The twins were born at the Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Memorial Hospital in Raipur, the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, amidst the ongoing 21-day lockdown in the South Asian country.
According to news outlet The New Indian Express, the mother, Preeti, gave birth to a boy and a girl.
"A team of doctors and medical staff performed a caesarean section on her after she complained of labour pain and complications
“The mother and newborn babies are doing fine. The infants weigh 2.9kg and 2.7kg," a public relations officer at the hospital was quoted as saying.
According to The New Indian Express, Preeti’s husband, Vinay Verma, rushed her to hospital when she went into labour – but faced many roadblocks along the way.
"My husband took me to the hospital on his motorcycle. It was around midnight and we were stopped at various checkpoints raised by the traffic police," Preeti, who already has a 2-year-old daughter, said.
As for the ‘unusual’ names for the babies, the new parents said the monikers will remind them of all the hardships they conquered amid the lockdown and pandemic, reported The Hindu.
"We have named them Covid (boy) and Corona (girl) for now. The delivery happened after facing several difficulties and therefore, I and my husband wanted to make the day memorable," the 27-year-old mother said.
"Indeed, the virus is dangerous and life-threatening – but its outbreak has made people focus on sanitation, hygiene and inculcate other good habits. Thus, we thought about these names.
“When the hospital staff also started calling the babies Corona and Covid, we finally decided to name them after the pandemic," Preeti said, adding that she and her husband may decide to change the babies’ names later.