"Harry Potter" actress Jessie Cave reveals her baby has COVID-19
About 11 weeks after taking her baby home from the hospital, actress Jessie Cave announced she was isolated in a hospital room with her son, who tested positive for COVID-19. Cave, who is known for playing Lavender Brown in the "Harry Potter" series, shared the news on Instagram Tuesday.
Cave posted an image of her baby boy in a hospital bed, as she watched British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's lockdown announcement on Monday night. "I watched the news about lockdown from an isolated room in hospital. Poor baby is covid positive," she wrote. "He's okay and doing well but they are being vigilant and cautious, thankfully. This strain is super powerful and contagious so I do hope that people take extra care in the coming weeks."
Johnson announced the new lockdown measures on Monday night as the country reels from a new coronavirus variant that has pushed infection rates to their highest recorded levels.
The new COVID-19 strain, which was first detected in the U.K. last month, has also been detected in several states, including California and New York. Health experts in the U.K. and U.S. said the strain seems to infect more easily than others, but there is no evidence it is more deadly. Scientists are investigating whether or not the the new variant spreads more easily in children, BBC News reports.
The U.K. government's New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats advisory group (Nervtag) says if the strain does spread to children more easily, it could account for "a significant proportion" of the country's increase in transmission. Still, there is no evidence that suggests the strain poses a greater health risk to children, according to the BBC.
It is unclear which strain of COVID-19 Cave's baby has been infected with. In her post, the 33-year-old mother of three opened up about the difficult start to 2021.
"Really didn't want this to be the start of my families new year. Really didn't want to be back in a hospital so soon after his traumatic birth," Cave wrote. "Once again I'm in awe of nurses and doctors. It makes me even more proud of my brother, a&e doctor @pondermed and my father, king GP @davidlloyd73."
She asked followers to wish her baby a speedy recovery. "He's [9 lbs 7 oz] now so he's a stronger and bigger boy than he was when we were last in a hospital room (and the needle went into his hand with louder more powerful screams)," Cave continued. "Love and best wishes to everyone."
Cave announced the birth of her son in an Instagram post on October 22. In the post, she praised health care workers. "This has been a very different experience to my first two births... much more humbling, terrifying and out of my control. We are currently in the neo natal unit but he's a strong boy and it's the safest place for him right now," she wrote.
"The midwives (Magda & Daisy) and the doctors and neo natal nurses have been amazing (our first one to welcome us into the ward was named Rosaria and she was extremely comforting)," her post continued. It does not appear she has shared her baby's name publicly.
