Estimating the COVID-19 prevalence in Spain with indirect reporting via open surveys Articles uri icon

authors

  • Garcia-Agundez, Augusto
  • Ojo, Oluwasegun
  • HERNANDEZ ROIG, HAROLD ANTONIO
  • Baquero, Carlos
  • Frey, Davide
  • Georgiou, Chryssis
  • Goessens, Mathieu
  • Lillo, Rosa E.
  • Menezes, Raquel
  • Nicolaou, Nicolas
  • Ortega, Antonio
  • Stavrakis, Efstathios
  • Fernandez Anta, Antonio

publication date

  • April 2021

volume

  • 9

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 2296-2565

abstract

  • During the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, accurate tracking has proven unfeasible. Initial estimation methods pointed toward case numbers that were much higher than officially reported. In the CoronaSurveys project, we have been addressing this issue using open online surveys with indirect reporting. We compare our estimates with the results of a serology study for Spain, obtaining high correlations (R squared 0.89). In our view, these results strongly support the idea of using open surveys with indirect reporting as a method to broadly sense the progress of a pandemic.

keywords

  • covid-19; pandemic; serology; survey; indirect reporting; sensing