A 5-month-old girl died after she was given turtle blood to drink as her family thought it would help them protect them from the coronavirus.

The 7-year-old sister of the girl and her parents were rushed to a hospital after they also drank the blood of the turtle.

A Haitian witch doctor told them to do so.

The baby was already dead by the time she was brought to the Rosa Duarte Hospital in the municipality of Comendador.

Her family are believed to be in a serious but stable condition.

Dahiana Volquez, the director of the hospital, siad:

These types of cases are caused by people who think these drinks can have curative qualities, but can end up being deadly.

The girl died on Sunday.

The details of the incident became public on Sunday.

Local reports have described the infant as Haitian, although it is not clear if she lived in the poverty-stricken former French colony or in the Dominican Republic.