A Pair Of Newborn Twins Have Been Named 'Covid' And 'Corona'

The newborn twins were born during the ongoing nationwide lockdown at Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Memorial Hospital in Raipur, the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh.

According to news outlet The New Indian Express, the husband, Vinay Verma, had to rush his wife, Preeti, to the government-run hospital, where she gave birth to a boy and a girl.

"Both the mother and newborn babies are doing fine. The infants weigh 2.9kg and 2.7kg. A team of doctors and medical staff performed a caesarean section on her after she complained of labour pain and complications," a public relations officer at the hospital was quoted as saying.

"My husband took me to the hospital on his motorcycle. It was around midnight and we were stopped at various check-points raised by the traffic police," the wife told the outlet.

The parents of the newborn twins said that it would remind them about all the hardships they conquered amid the lockdown, ahead of the successful delivery, 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 wife said.

According to her while the COVID-19 virus is dangerous, the pandemic has made people take note of the importance of hygiene and practice good habits to keep safe.

"Indeed the virus is dangerous and life-threatening but its outbreak 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 as Corona and Covid, we finally decided to name them after the pandemic," the 27-year-old mother of the newborn twins said, giving reasons for their unusual decision.

The couple, however, said they may change their decision and rename the kids later.