Coronavirus: Couple names twins Corona and Covid after arriving amid pandemic

A couple in India named their newborn twins Corona and Covid after they were delivered during the country’s ongoing coronavirus lockdown.

“The delivery happened after facing several difficulties and therefore, my husband and I wanted to make the day memorable,” Preeti Verma, the 27-old mother, told the Press Trust of India.

Preeti and Vinay Verma say the names will remind their children as they grow up about the hardships faced during the lockdown. And, hopefully, the family’s triumph over adversity.

The healthy twins — a boy and a girl — were delivered in a government hospital last week in the state of Chhattisgarh.

The lockdown in India, which began March 24, has resulted in the suspension of train and airline service, and effectively kept 1.3 billion Indians at home for all but essential trips to places, like food markets or pharmacies.

India has 2,909 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the country, including 68 deaths.

The overall number of known cases in India is small compared with the United States, Italy and China, but health experts say India could be weeks away from a huge surge that could overwhelm its already strained public health system.