An Indian couple has done the unthinkable by naming their newborn twins as Corona and Covid, names connected with the pandemic ravaging the world.

For the couple, who is based in Raipur, in the state of Chhattisgarh, the two words may evoke fear and devastation to the world. But for them, they symbolise triumph over hardship.

The names remind them of all the hardships they overcame amid the lockdown, to have a successful delivery of the babies on the night of March 26-27 at a government hospital.

“I was blessed with the twins, a boy and a girl, in the early hours on March 27. We have named them Covid (boy) and Corona (girl) for now,” Preeti Verma, the 27-old mother of the newborns, said in a report by The Hindu.

“The delivery happened after facing several difficulties and therefore, me and my husband wanted to make the day memorable.

“Indeed the virus is dangerous and life-threatening but its outbreak made people focus on sanitation, hygiene and inculcate other good habits. Thus, we thought about these names,” she said, giving reasons for their unusual decision.

“When the hospital staff also started calling the babies as Corona and Covid, we finally decided to name them after the pandemic,” she said.

The couple, originally from Uttar Pradesh, resides in a rented house in the Purani Basti area of the state capital.

However, they said they may rename their kids in the future.