A Johannesburg mother has warned parents against being naive about the impact of COVID-19 on children after she almost lost her five-month-old baby to the disease.
After her family returned home from a Christmas trip to Durban, Candice van Niekerk, found that a relative they had interacted with had tested positive for the coronavirus.
In December, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said a new variant of the COVID-19 virus has been causing a rapid spread of the coronavirus in the second wave.
The Minister said the second wave and emerging trends are likely being driven by the new strain.
The video below discusses the new coronavirus variant that has been identified in South Africa:
Her husband and baby both tested positive while she and her daughter tested negative.
Sharing her ordeal on Facebook, Van Niekerk said she had been naive about the impact the virus has on children.
“Ben sounded like a rattle when he breathed, it was bad. He had a runny nose. I started to panic. [At about] 2am on Tuesday morning, I couldn’t hear him in his cot. He was lying there, eyes open, boiling to touch. We rushed him to the emergency room after putting him in a lukewarm bath.”
“My frustration and the reason that I shared the post, I felt so guilty because of my naivety. I had no idea that this could happen to my children. Had I known, I wouldn’t have gone to Durban. We genuinely believed that we were going to lose Ben on Tuesday. You cannot understand how helpless you feel and it’s truly terrifying,” explains Van Niekerk.
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