Coronavirus: Five-month-old Brazilian ‘miracle’ baby recovers after spending 32 days in coma

Baby Dom caught virus a few months after being born, his parents say

A five-month-old “miracle” baby has recovered from Covid-19 after spending over a month in a coma, his parents have said.

Brazilian baby Dom was diagnosed with the novel virus at the Pro-Cardiaco hospital in Rio de Janeiro a few months after being born.

Dom was in the hospital for 54 days in total, with 32 of those spent in an induced coma, according to his father, Wagner Andrade.

It is unclear how Dom contracted coronavirus although his parents think he may have picked it up while visiting relatives.

He has now recovered and will be able to spend his 6-month birthday on 14 June at home with his father and mother, Viviane Monteiro.

“First, I felt relieved, and then indescribable happiness,” Andrade told CNN. “We were longing to get him back home for more than 50 days.”

Brazil has so far reported over 550,000 Covid-19 cases — the third highest in the world, second only to the US — and recorded more than 31,000 deaths, according to official figures.

Despite Brazil becoming the new epicentre of the pandemic, President Jair Bolsonaro continues to downplay its seriousness, urging people to get back to work.

Earlier this month, Bolsonaro was pictured mixing with crowds of supporters and embracing children during a protest, defying his own health minister’s social distancing guidelines.

Earlier this week, prominent Brazilians from across the political spectrum launched an alternative plan to Bolsonaro’s handling of the crisis.

A movement calling itself Movimento Estamos Juntos (We Are Together Movement) published a manifesto in multiple newspapers, with 1,600 initial signatories pledging to put aside political divisions to resist Bolsonaro.

The next day, Bolsonaro rode on horseback with his supporters to protest against Congress and the Supreme Court, which is investigating his interference in police affairs.