Objectives To describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics and outcome of hospitalized children with COVID-19 during the initial phase of the pandemic. Methods This was a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted at the dedicated COVID-19 hospital of a tertiary care referral center in North India. Consecutive children aged 14 y or younger who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR from nasopharyngeal swab between 1 April 2020 and 15 July 2020 were included. Results Of 31 children with median (IQR) age of 33 (9-96) mo, 9 (29%) were infants. About 74% (n = 23) had history of household contact. Comorbidities were noted in 6 (19%) children. More than half (58%) were asymptomatic. Of 13 symptomatic children, median (IQR) duration of symptoms was 2 (1-5.5) d. Fever (32%) was most common followed by cough (19%), rapid breathing (13%), diarrhea (10%) and vomiting (10%). Severe [n = 4, 13%] and critical [n = 1, 3%] illnesses were noted more commonly in infants with comorbidities. Three (10%) children required PICU admission and invasive ventilation; one died. Median (IQR) length of hospital stay was 15 (11-20) d. Follow up RT-PCR before discharge was performed in 17 children and the median (IQR) duration to RT-PCR negativity was 16 (12-19) d. Conclusions In the early pandemic, most children with COVID-19 had a household contact and presented with asymptomatic or mild illness. Severe and critical illness were observed in young infants and those with comorbidities.

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clear levels felt to be sufficient when determining tumour clearance, was 2.2 (range 1-6) and for those using size, a mean of 165.6 µm (range 50-300 µm). Common factors taken into account when determining clearance were the morphology of the tumour, presence of scarring, inflammation or perineural invasion and the quality of cryostat slides. Details of the histopathological aspects and work practices are summarized in Table 1.The survey showed that the great majority (96.2%) of MMS units have a dedicated adjacent MMS laboratory. The recently published multidisciplinary Service Guidance and Standards for MMS recommends preoperative assessment for all potential MMS surgery patients, including a discussion of alternative options. 4 This is supported by data from this survey, which showed that 7.9% of patients referred for MMS surgery are subsequently deemed unsuitable for the procedure. The survey data also indicate that the majority of MMS surgeons (62.0%) consult with all potential patients prior to surgery.This study provides a valuable update to the 2011 national survey outcomes and serves as a benchmark of MMS practice for individual departments.