Metrics details To define the seroprevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in the municipality of Vilanova del Camí (in the region of Conca d'Ódena Spain) and to know the risk factors associated with positive seroprevalence The population of Vilanova del Camí had the opportunity to voluntarily attend two screenings (October and December 2020) for antibodies against the nucleocapsid protein of SARS-CoV-2 using a Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) (Salocor (Salofa Oy) Participants in the screening signed an informed consent form The relationship between antibody test results and other demographic (sex The prevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 was 9.6% (95% CI of 8.4% to 10.9%) and was similar for men and women but increased with age and among patients with advanced chronic disease COVID-19 diagnosis and contact with a COVID-19 case were risk factors for positive seroprevalence A higher seroprevalence was detected in the October screening (12.16%) than in the December screening (8.38%) obesity was a risk factor for positive seroprevalence This study demonstrates the high seroprevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in the pandemic epicentre of Catalonia The Spanish Government approved a Royal Decree (RD 463/2020 of 14 March) to establish a state of alarm to manage the health crisis successive decrees have been passed to establish measures aimed at minimising population mobility and the spread of the virus In March 2020, Conca d'Ódena was considered the national pandemic epicentre in Spain, implying a strict confinement from 12th March 6th to April, 20203 Conca d'Ódena is formed by the grouping of several municipalities in the province of Barcelona It is estimated that 40% of health professionals in the Conca d’Ódena were COVID-19 cases or contacts during the month of March although there are no official published data no diagnostic tests were available and many of the possible cases were suspected cases of COVID-19 without antigenic confirmation Spain is one of the European countries most severely affected by the pandemic4 the accumulated incidence at the state level amounted to 4,967,200 cases In Anoia County from 01/03/2020 to 24/03/2021 7,460 cases and 618 deaths due to COVID-19 were registered Although it is recognised that the territory of Conca d'Ódena suffered severely from the impact of COVID-19 during the first wave the percentage of the population with antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 at that time is unknown and we will most likely never know the number of real cases because diagnostic tests were not available at the beginning The objective of this study was to define the seroprevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in the municipality of Vilanova del Camí (Conca d'Ódena) in the first and second wave of COVID-19 in Spain and its relationship with main demographic and clinical variables A total of 5.7% of the population analysed had a diagnosis of COVID-19 in the 6 months prior to the test and 10.7% had a diagnosis of close contact with a COVID-19 case in the 6 months prior to the test (Table 1) Relation between SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence and age As for individual diagnoses, only the percentage of cancer showed differences, with a higher percentage in the first sample (20.7% vs. 16.5%, p-value = 0.020) (Table 1) The seroprevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 was significantly higher in the October analysis, 12.16% CI95: 9.93;14.80, than in the December analysis, 8.38% CI95: 7.01;9.91 (Table 2) The results of this study might show the impact of the first wave of COVID-19 in the region If we consider only the analysis of October the impact of the COVID-19 disease on a municipality in the region had not been analysed; in fact COVID-19 cases were not diagnosed with tests rather they were based merely on suspicion Although no official mortality data per municipality are available for 2020 the written press and data from the local funeral home established an approximate increase in mortality of 386% therefore the real seroprevalence could be much higher The seroprevalence by gender was similar, as noted in some studies12 a significantly higher prevalence was observed in the over-60 age group than in the younger age groups These results could confirm the suspicion of the high impact of the first wave in older people antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in CCP (14.29%) and ACD (25%) were higher than within the population without CCP or ACD condition the higher the risk of having suffered from COVID-19 and therefore of having antibodies The population of Vilanova del Camí has a high prevalence of antibodies (above the average for Barcelona and Spain) and has a low socio-economic index which consider that there are more problems in carrying out self-isolation and quarantine correctly among close contacts It should be noted that this increased risk is for all ages Obesity is an important public health problem 24.3% of the screened participants were obese which is also related to populations with a low socio-economic level such as the prescription of antivirals or immunosuppressants but very few cases of participants with an active prescription of these drugs were observed in the sample analysed the first screening did not detect risk factors for seroprevalence in December they did observe factors previously described in the literature: age This difference in risk factors in the two periods of analysis could be explained by the fact that in December the behaviour of COVID-19 in Vilanova del Camí was more like other territories unlike in October when the effects of the first wave were carried over and where the mortality rate was higher The reference population of the study was all the residents of the municipality of Vilanova del Camí The study population was the resident population of Vilanova del Camí who voluntarily attended the open call screening of antibodies against the nucleocapsid protein of SARS-CoV-2 as a result of a collaboration between the Vilanova del Camí Town Council the primary care centre of the Catalan Health Institute of Vilanova del Camí and the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS) and with the support of the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT Health) through the Certify.health COVID-19 Rapid Response Innovation Project The inclusion criteria for serology were being a resident in the municipality of Vilanova del Camí being older than 1 year and accepting the informed consent The only exclusion criterion was the presence of symptoms compatible with an active COVID-19 infection This sample was selected from the register of participants in the primary care centre diaries eliminating duplicate participants and expecting 5% of necessary replacements A univariate analysis of qualitative variables (absolute frequency and percentage) and quantitative variables (mean and standard deviation or median and quartiles according to normality distribution) was performed Bivariate studies of the dependent variables and the independent variables were also carried out The prevalence of the total sample was calculated and the prevalence ratio was estimated according to the potential variables in order to estimate the magnitude of association Multivariate regressions (Generalized Linear Models (GLM) with Poisson family and robust variances) adjusted by significant independent variables from univariate analysis and potential confounding variables was also performed Statistically significant differences were considered statistically significant with p-values of < 0.05 and 95% confidence intervals All analyses were performed with version 5.3.2 of the statistical program R The screening had the approval of the ethics committee of Hospital Clínic of Barcelona (HCB/2020/0709) and this study has the approval of the Ethics Committee from the Foundation University Institute for Primary Health Care Research Jordi Gol i Gurina (IDIAPJGol) (21/136-PCV) All participants signed informed consent forms This study was conducted in accordance with the latest revised ethical guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki A novel coronavirus from patients with pneumonia in China European centre for disease prevention and control. Available at: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/covid-19 Tracking-Johns Hopkins coronavirus resource centre. (2021). Available at: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html Temporal profiles of viral load in posterior oropharyngeal saliva samples and serum antibody responses during infection by SARS-CoV-2: An observational cohort study SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence worldwide: a systematic review and meta-analysis Population-based seroprevalence surveys of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody: An up-to-date review SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among health care workers in a New York city hospital: A cross-sectional analysis during the COVID-19 pandemic Prevención primaria del duelo complicado: atención al paciente y su familia en el final de la vida y muerte/perimuerte SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in COVID-19 hotspots Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Spain (ENE-COVID): A nationwide population-based seroepidemiological study Prevalence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in Italian adults and associated risk factors Assessment of seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and risk factors associated With COVID-19 infection among outpatients in virginia Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) seroprevalence and risk factors among oligo/asymptomatic healthcare workers: Estimating the impact of community transmission Vos, E. R. A. et al. Nationwide seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and identification of risk factors in the general population of the Netherlands during the first epidemic wave. J. Epidemiol. Commun. Health. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2020-215678 (2020) Informes Científicos Covid-19 Coordinador: José Alcamí Pertejo COVID-19 antibody seroprevalence in Santa Clara County Seroprevalence of COVID-19 infection in a rural district of South India: A population-based seroepidemiological study The impact of socioeconomic status on the clinical outcomes of COVID-19; a retrospective cohort study A deprivation index to reform the financing model of primary care in Catalonia (Spain) Construcción de un índice de privación a partir de datos censales en grandes ciudades españolas (Proyecto MEDEA) La obesidad como factor de riesgo en personas con COVID-19: Posibles mecanismos e implicaciones Obesity and impaired metabolic health in patients with COVID-19 Persistence and decay of human antibody responses to the receptor binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in COVID-19 patients Persistence of serum and saliva antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 spike antigens in COVID-19 patients NOTE: This preprint reports new research that has not been certified by peer review and should not be used to guide clinical practice Sustained SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid antibody levels in nonsevere COVID-19: A population-based study Rapid decay of anti–SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in persons with mild Covid-19 Los grupos de morbilidad ajustados: nuevo agrupador de morbilidad poblacional de utilidad en el ámbito de la atención primaria Download references August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS) health professionals participating in the project and the entire population of the municipality Centro de Atención Primaria de Vilanova del Camí Health Promotion in Rural Areas Research Group Gerència Territorial de La Catalunya Central Q.M.: analysis and interpretation of the data approval of the final version for publication M.H.: analysis and interpretation of the data The authors declare no competing interests Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-13290-2 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily. Normality is slowly returning to the town and the care capacity in the hospitals is increasing After the Spanish government accepted the calls from Catalonia to lift the strict confinement measures in Igualada and the surrounding areas the cities and towns are gradually going back to normal although the home confinement measures that are in place across all of Spain due to the state of alarm will be in effect in the central Catalan areas.  Catalan police began dismantling the controls on roads entering and leaving the area on Monday, which has been totally isolated since March 12, following the outbreak of a large coronavirus cluster in the region. Only essential services have been allowed in and out of Igualada Santa Margarida de Montbui and Vilanova del Camí since that date the exceptional situation for 70,000 people has come to an end Health minister Alba Vergés said in a press conference that the funeral home had reported 147 deaths from covid-19 since the outbreak in the area although 16 new coronavirus cases were confirmed the mayor of Igualada and spokesperson for the confined councils reported that the following day there were 11 further deaths from the virus Igualada Hospital is slowly returning to normal The situation has improved and patients in the area no longer have to be sent to other health centers nearby due to lack of care capacity.  the situation has improved to the point that patients in other hospitals are even returning to Igualada hospital as it now has the capacity.  healthcare workers recovering from covid-19 is moving along a positive trend 42 new healthcare professionals have been hired at this center and also twenty nurses from the fire brigade have joined them.  the Catalan government reported that the death rate in the area climbed to 63.1 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants nine times higher than in the rest of Catalonia The figure is not only above the Catalan average but the Spanish one and that of Lombardy too Get the day's biggest stories right to your phone v1.1.0. Copyright © 2025. Powered by EBANTIC. All rights reserved. ACN | Barcelona The public prosecutor has opened investigations into seven elderly care homes in Catalonia over their handling of the coronavirus crisis out of a total of 38 such investigations around Spain Sources in the prosecutor's office say that the 38 investigations are separate from others being carried out by other courts around Spain and that the number of homes under investigation could go up when they are reviewed on Tuesday A few weeks ago, the chief public prosecutor in Catalonia ordered investigations into more than a score of Covid-19 deaths in two elderly care homes the chief prosecutor said the investigations could be extended to other homes in Catalonia if the number of deaths due to coronavirus continued to rise and depending on the decision of the state prosecutor to investigate homes around Spain That decision came after the Spanish armed forces reported finding residents living with dead bodies in some homes Defense minister Margarita Robles told a TV channel that soldiers had seen elderly people "totally abandoned" and "people dead in their beds." Government admits mistakes in handling care homes The handling of the coronavirus in care homes has come under scrutiny during the health crisis, with Catalan president Quim Torra admitting last week that the government could have done better reporting the situation and that a lack of clarity had led to "social alarm." On Friday, the local authority in Vilanova del Camí, in Anoia county, confirmed that 47 residents had died in one care home in the town since the pandemic began, with 58 of the home's 107 residents currently in isolation after testing positive for the virus. One of the biggest problems facing care homes during the crisis has been a lack of staff, and on April 1 the Catalan government's social affairs department reported that over 3,000 of 75,000 care workers in the country were in preventive isolation. Catalonia has 1,073 public and private elderly care homes in total, with places for over 64,000 residents. As of April 11, some 342 care homes had reported confirmed coronavirus cases, with 1,663 residents reported as dying due to Covid-19. Catalan government called for entry and exit restrictions to be lifted now that whole country is confined at home The Spanish government has agreed with Catalonia's request to lift the perimeter confinement around Igualada and three other towns in the Conca d'Òdena.  The Spanish health and interior ministries gave the proposal the green light on Sunday with health minister Salvador Illa saying they would "issue an order today" to formalise the plans Catalan civil protection authorities, chaired by the home affairs and health ministers, Miquel Buch and Alba Vergés, had announced their intention to lift the quarantine perimeter on Saturday Buch and Vergés decided it was right to lift the measures because the basic reproductive ratio of covid-19 in the four towns has been lowered to a similar level as that of the rest of Catalonia.  the Igualada area will be under the same lockdown conditions as the rest of Catalonia.  Only essential services have been allowed in and out of Igualada Santa Margarida de Montbui and Vilanova del Camí since March 12 A man was killed with an ax blow in an apartment in Badalona | @mossos EVENTS Horrible murder in the middle of the night: 36-year-old man killed with an axThe Mossos d'Esquadra are now investigating what is already the fourth murder in just four days in Catalonia03/02/2025 09:34:00h by Aida Cristòfol A hideous discovery by the Mossos d'Esquadra in an apartment in Badalona A 36-year-old man of Pakistani origin died violently in a residence on Guasch Street everything allegedly originated in the middle of a fight inside the apartment The Catalan police also found a second person in the apartment with stab wounds The Mossos d'Esquadra are investigating the case | Mossos d'EsquadraMan killed with ax blows in BadalonaAccording to initial reports, an unknown person allegedly attacked the victim using an ax The events occurred inside a residence on Guasch Street in Badalona They were able to transport a second person with stab wounds to the Can Ruti Hospital in Badalona It is the fourth murder in just 4 days in Catalonia | Mossos d'EsquadraInitial investigations suggest that the incident originated from a fight inside the residence A witness allegedly recorded the assault on video which could provide key details to clarify what happened The Criminal Investigation Division (DIC) of the Northern Metropolitan Police Region has taken over the case This tragic event adds to a series of recent homicides in Catalonia it is the fourth murder in just 4 days in Catalonia three other murders have been recorded in Barcelona It is being investigated whether the death is linked to conflicts arising around the control of drug sales A problem that has caused numerous confrontations in the area no arrests have been made directly related to the crime