12-Year-Old Child Dies Just 24 Hours After Testing Positive For COVID-19

A minor girl in India died Sunday, just 24 hours after testing positive for COVID-19.

The 12-year-old girl from the eastern state of Mizoram was identified as Christy Lalchhanhimi. The child was admitted to the Lunglei DCHC (Dedicated COVID-19 Health Center) on Friday, where she tested positive for COVID-19. A day later, she was declared dead.

The death was also confirmed by Mizoram immunization officer, Lalmuanawma Jongte, on Sunday, local media NENOW reported.

The Mizoram immunization officer said 12-year-old Lalchhanhimi was the only COVID-19 fatality in the state in the last 24 hours. The COVID-19 death rate currently stands at 0.30%, Pratidin Times reported.

Authorities have not revealed if the girl was suffering from any comorbidities. The reason for her hospitalization has also not been made public.

It remains unclear if the girl was vaccinated for COVID-19. It's also not known how she contracted the virus.

India announced in March the beginning of inoculation of children in the age group of 12 to 14 years against COVID-19 with Corbevax vaccine – the country's first indigenously developed RBD-protein subunit vaccine.

The country's guidelines mentioned two doses of Biological E's intramuscular vaccine Corbevax would be administered to the beneficiaries in the 12 to 14 years age group in an interval of 28 days.

Authorities said the state has 978 COVID-19 active cases, while 223,123 people have recovered from the infection so far, including 53 people Sunday.

In the last few weeks, India has seen a decline in COVID-19 cases, with less than 1,000 cases being reported in the country Monday. The number of active cases is the lowest in 714 days, the data showed.

While some parts of the world were seeing a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases, several states in India have started lifting all restrictions related to the virus.

However, there are concerns about a new COVID-19 variant that has been found in the U.K., the World Health Organization said. The new mutant, called XE, may be more transmissible than any strain of COVID-19, the health body said.

XE is a "recombinant," which is a mutation of BA '1 and BA.2 Omicron strains. The variants mix up their genetic material during replication and form a new mutation, the U.K. experts said in a paper published in the British Medical Journal.