1 in 10 people in Spain have been infected with Covid-19, nationwide antibody test finds

A national seroprevalence study has shown that nearly 10 percent of Spain’s population is, to some degree, immune to Covid-19, up from 5 percent in July.

Carried out by the ministry of health, the study published on Tuesday suggests that 9.9 percent of people in Spain have Covid antibodies and have already been infected with the virus.This figure infers that 4.7 million people have been infected across the country. 

The new data is the fourth round of a nationwide seroprevalence study being undertaken by the government. The same study previously said that only 5.2 percent of the population had been infected with Covid-19 by July.

The fieldwork for this fourth round was carried out between November 16 and 27 and involved more than 1,500 health centers and 4,000 health professionals. In total, 51,409 people participated in the research, which aims to map the development of the virus in Spain.

The data also shows the exposure of different provinces to the virus. Three provinces — Cuenca, Soria and Madrid — had antibody prevalence of more than 18 percent, while data from some places, including two Canary Islands (Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife), showed prevalence to be less than five percent.

The fifth and sixth rounds of the study were due to take place in January and April 2021 but are likely to experience some delays. 

Spain has been one of the countries hardest-hit by the pandemic, recording 102.76 deaths per 100,000 people. In Western Europe, this figure is only surpassed by Italy and Belgium. 

Having overcome the peak of the second wave in October, cases are once again beginning to rise in Spain.

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