Of a total of 75,926 inhabitants in Andorra (≥2 years old), 70,389 (92.7%) participated in the first survey and 63,708 (84.0%) in the second one. A total of 63,603 (83.9%) completed the two surveys (Figure 1). Among the 70,494 (92.8%) who participated in at least one of the surveys, the mean age was 40.4 (SD: 20.0) years old, 32,204 (50.6%) were male, and the region that contributed with more participants was Andorra la Vella with 21,102 (29%) participants. The most frequent age group among study participants was the 40-49 years old (19.5% of all participants) (Table 1). There was a higher frequency of seasonal workers in regions related to skiing activities: 66.6% of seasonal workers resided in the region of Canillo/Encamp, and 16.5% in the regions of La Massana/Ordino (Supplementary Table 4).
The seroprevalence in the first survey, conducted under a strict population lockdown, was 9.7% (95% CI 9.5-9.9) while the seroprevalence of the second survey, conducted under a partial population confinement, was 8.5% (95% CI 8.3-8.7). The overall seroprevalence (considering seropositivity in either survey) was 11.0% (95% CI 10.8-11-2) (Table 2). A total of 61,639 (87.4%) participants were negative in both surveys, 117 (0.2%) participants had an inconclusive result in the first survey, 79 (0.1%) in the second survey and none in the two surveys. Between the first and the second cross-sectional survey, a total of 2,066 people (2.8%) seroconverted and 2,612 people (3.6%) seroreverted.
Among participants that tested positive, the mean age was 43.2 years in both surveys (SD: 20.3 and SD: 20.5 in first and second survey respectively). Most participants were asymptomatic at the time of the surveys, only 1,972/66,753 (2.9%) reported symptoms in the first survey and 857/60,211 (1.4%) in the second one. Among participants with at least one positive antibody isotype, the most frequently observed pattern was IgM+/IgG- (3.6%) which, according to our algorithm, was considered to be due to a recent acute infection (Supplementary Table 3).
A total of 4,364/73,265 (6.0%) participants had been tested by RT-PCR prior to the survey. Among those who had a previous positive RT-PCR, 305/378 (78.0%) were seropositive in the first survey. After the second survey and following the national algorithm (Supplementary Figure 1), a total of 1,518 PCR tests were performed, of which 23 were positive.
Seroprevalence in different population groups (univariable analysis).
Seroprevalences in different population groups are reported in table 2. No differences were observed by sex (11.4% of seroprevalence in females and 11.3% in males, p=0.06). The most seroprevalent age groups were those over 90 years old (15.2%) and 80-89 (13.8%), followed by adults 50-59 (13.6%) and adolescents aged 10-19 (13.7%).
Among health care workers (n=2,167 (3.1%) of all participants), seroprevalence was 10.4%. Only 68 (3.1% of 2,193 health care workers) of all health care workers reported having COVID-19 compatible symptoms before the first survey. Seasonal workers presented higher seroprevalence in the first survey than the general population 13.3% vs 9.7% (p<0.0001).
Figure 2 shows the spatial distribution of the seroprevalence in Andorra, per parish. The overall highest seroprevalence was observed in La Massana (17.8%), Sant Julià de Lorià (14.2%) and Escaldes-Engordany (11.4%). The regional distribution by seasonal workers is detailed in Supplementary, table 3 and figure 2.
Multivariable analysis of factors affecting seroprevalence
The odds of being seropositive were higher in elderly participants age above 90 years (OR: 1.61, 95% CI 1.31-2.31, p< 0.0001), than in 80-89 years (OR: 1.34, 95% CI 1.11-1.63, p< 0.0001) and 50-59 years (OR: 1.18, 95% CI 1.18-1.48, p< 0.0001). Participants who presented any COVID-19 related symptoms, especially in the first survey, presented higher odds (OR: 1.99, 95% CI 1.71-2.31; p<0.0001) of being seropositive than asymptomatic participants. The occupations more strongly associated with a seropositive result were seasonal workers (OR 1.87; 95% CI 1.57- 2.23, p< 0.0001) and students (OR 1.64; 95% CI 1.48-1.82 p< 0.0001). The parishes with higher odds were La Massana (OR 2.65; 95% CI 2.43-2.89) and Sant Julià de Lorià (OR 1.84; 95% CI 1.68-2.02) followed by Ordino (OR: 1.47, 95% CI 1.30-1.67), all with p<0.001, on the multivariable analysis (Table 3).
Household level seroprevalence
The median household size was 3 people (95% CI: 2.0–3.0). Higher mean seroprevalence was observed in households with a greater number of cohabitants, being highest in those with 6 or more people (18%), followed by those with medium size (4 to 5 people) (13%) and small size (1 to 2 people) (12%), with a p<0.001. The proportion of seroconverters increased in larger households, from 3.5% in small households, to 7.1% in medium and 14.1% in large households, with a p< 0.0001. Table 4).