Covid, Corona and Lockdown: the babies named after a pandemic

Manju Bauri rests with her newborn baby boy 'Lockdown' in their temporary home in northeast India.
Manju Bauri rests with her newborn baby boy 'Lockdown' in their temporary home in northeast India.

MANILA: First there was Corona Kumar, then Covid Marie: parents have taken to naming newborns after the coronavirus.

When Colline Tabesa gave birth to a healthy baby girl in the Philippine city of Bacolod on April 13, she and the father John Tupas decided to choose a name to show their gratitude.

"This Covid-19 has caused great suffering around the world," said 23-year-old Tupas. "I wanted her name to remind us that Covid did not only bring us suffering. Despite all of this, a blessing came to us," he added.

They chose the name Covid Marie.

Weeks earlier, two mothers in southeastern India had similar ideas, apparently encouraged by a doctor in the hospital where their babies were born.

One was called Corona Kumar and the other Corona Kumari.

"I told them this would help create awareness about the disease and remove the stigma around it," said the doctor.

A migrant-worker couple in India's northeast decided to name their child Lockdown.

"We named him Lockdown remembering all the problems we had to face during this tough time," local media reports quoted the father as saying.

Tupas, the father of baby Covid Marie, said that while he was criticised on social media for his choice, he would not be change his mind.

"She might experience bullying, but I'll just teach my daughter to be a good person," he said.

Vocabulary

  • awareness: knowing that something exists, or having knowledge or experience of a particular thing - การรับรู้, การทราบ, ความตระหนัก
  • blessing: something that is good or helpful - สิ่งทำให้โชคดีหรือมีความสุข
  • bullying: (n) the act of frightening or hurting weaker people -
  • criticised: receiving words of disapproval over something that you have supposedly done wrong - ถูกวิจารณ์, โดนว่า
  • encourage: to cause someone to have more confidence or hope about something - ทำให้มีกำลังใจ
  • gratitude: a feeling of being grateful to someone because they have given you something or have done something for you - ความรู้สึกขอบคุณ
  • migrant worker: someone who travels to another place or country in order to find work - คนงานต่างถิ่น
  • newborn: recently born - แรกเกิด
  • stigma: a feeling that something is wrong or embarrassing in some way - ความอัปยศอดสู,มลทิน,รอยด่างพร้อย
  • suffering: physical or mental pain or problems - ความทุกข์ทรมาน
  • tough: difficult to do or to deal with - ยาก ยากลำบาก
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