Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) [India], April 17 (ANI): Children below 11-years of age testing positive for COVID-19 is a new trend in the Andhra Pradesh, according to Dr Jawahar Reddy, Special Chief Secretary (Health), state government."We have got some COVID-19 cases who are below 11 yrs of age. That is a new trend, new disease, new infection, we are still trying to understand the nature of the infection. The line of treatment and protocol remains the same. We are following the advice by ICMR," Dr Reddy told ANI here.Denying that there were chances of community spread taking place in Andhra Pradesh, he said, "The majority of cases recorded in Andhra Pradesh are linked to either foreign returnees or the Markaz returnees. There are very few cases that do not have a link to these."Earlier, addressing the media, Dr Reddy had said that Andhra Pradesh by conducting 331 tests per 1 million population is among the top 5 states in the list of those conducting the highest number of tests.He also said that while "11 out of the 13 districts are in the Red Zone, but the clusters are less in them."The Special Chief Secretary (Health) also said that the pool sampling method has been made operational in Andhra Pradesh, right after ICMR gave permission for conducting the same.The total number of COVID-19 cases in Andhra Pradesh has reached 534, including 500 active cases, according to the state health department on Thursday.While 14 deaths have been reported due to the infection, 20 patients have been cured and discharged following treatment. (ANI)

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