Warning for expecting moms after infant tests positive for COVID-19 in Orange County

Orlando, Fla. - A four-day-old baby is one of three infants testing positive for COVID-19 recently in Orange County. Health officials say the infants were born with the coronavirus. 

Dr. Raul Pino with the Florida Department of Health says three infants tested positive for COVID-19 from July 9 to July 22. The three infants in Orange County were born with COVID-19 to mothers who tested positive. Dr. Jason Littleton says while it's rare, babies can be born with COVID-19. 

"It’s in the mom’s bloodstream and it passes through the placenta into the baby or by vertical transmission," Dr. Jason Littleton of Littleton Concierge Medicine said. 

He says a mother with COVID-19 could easily give it to her baby after birth too. 

"We know air droplets, of course, babies and breathe it in, and just that close contact especially after birth that’s one of the ways it can be transmitted from mother to child," said Dr. Littleton. 

The Florida Department of Health data shows 1,402 babies less than one year old has tested positive for COVID-19 in the state. Dr. Littleton advises mothers to be even more cautious now by wearing a mask, social distancing, and having a conversation with family and friends. 

"Letting them know they’re expecting mothers, letting them know if you been sick or been around sick contacts, lets do a Facetime or something virtual so they’re always protecting themselves," Dr. Littleton said.