Three newborns in Mexico tested positive for coronavirus in what officials have confirmed is the first case in a set of triplets.
The triplets were born May 8 in San Luis Potosi, a state in central Mexico, to a mother who tested positive — but was asymptomatic — for coronavirus.
None of the triplets, per Monica Rangel, the state's health secretary, are believed to be in danger. Per the BBC, two of the newborns — a boy and a girl — are in stable condition. The third, a boy, is being treated for a respiratory condition.
It is rare for newborns to have coronavirus upon birth; it is also extremely uncommon for newborns to contract coronavirus after birth. Further, while children diagnosed with coronavirus generally tend to have less severe symptoms — with exceptions — the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that infants under the age of 12 months tend to have more severe illness from COVID-19.
In the case of these children, Rangel said the chances were small that the babies were infected with coronavirus so quickly outside of the womb.
"It would be impossible for them to have been infected at the moment of birth," Rangel she said in a statement, according to the BBC.
Mexico's confirmed coronavirus cases nationwide rose by 191,410 as of Wednesday, and the confirmed death toll rose to 23,377. Due to low levels of testing, experts say that both statistics are likely undercounts.
Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow Joshua Bote on Twitter: @joshua_bote