A 12-month-old baby who had symptoms of the multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), which is linked with coronavirus, has been intubated in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Makarios Hospital in Nicosia, it emerged on Saturday.

Head of the hospital’s paediatrics clinic, Dr Avraam Elia, told state broadcaster CyBC the baby was taken to hospital four days ago and due to the severity of his condition, was transferred to the ICU.

Two more children, a nine-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy, are in hospital with MIS-C. Their condition has much improved.

MIS-C is thought to be related to Covid-19, and usually affects one in 160 children. It causes prolonged fever, inflammation in the body, and affects one or more organ systems. The syndrome usually appears between two and six weeks after infection.

There have been 12 MIS-C cases in Cyprus.