Israel Neonatalogy Report: Only 3.5 Percent of Newborns Contract COVID-19 from Infected Mothers

By Maytal Yasur Beit-Or

Some 105,000 babies have been born in Israel since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, including 700 to mothers who tested positive for COVID-19 at the time that they gave birth. Only 24 of those babies (3.5 percent) tested positive at or shortly after birth, however, a new report by the Israel Neonatology Association reveals.

Of those 24, 11 were born prematurely.

Thus far, there have been no reported cases in Israel of newborns contracting the virus from their mother’s placenta, although there have been cases of babies contracting the virus in the days following birth.

The Israeli findings correlate with data collected worldwide, which indicate that pregnant women rarely, if ever, transmit COVID-19 to fetuses.

This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.