Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Rhode Island From a Statewide Random Sample.

Chan, Philip A; King, Ewa; Xu, Yizhen; Goedel, William; Lasher, Leanne; Vargas, Matt; Brindamour, Ken; Huard, Richard; Clyne, Ailis; McDonald, James; Bandy, Utpala; Yokum, David; Rogers, Michelle L; Chambers, Laura; Napoleon, Siena C; Alexander-Scott, Nicole; Hogan, Joseph W

Objectives. To characterize statewide seroprevalence and point prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Rhode Island.Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of randomly selected households across Rhode Island in May 2020. Antibody-based and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based tests for SARS-CoV-2 were offered. Hispanics/Latinos and African Americans/Blacks were oversampled to ensure adequate representation. Seroprevalence estimations accounted for test sensitivity and specificity and were compared according to age, race/ethnicity, gender, housing environment, and transportation mode.Results. Overall, 1043 individuals from 554 households were tested (1032 antibody tests, 988 PCR tests). The estimated seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was 2.1% (95% credible interval [CI] = 0.6, 4.1). Seroprevalence was 7.5% (95% CI = 1.3, 17.5) among Hispanics/Latinos, 3.8% (95% CI = 0.0, 15.0) among African Americans/Blacks, and 0.8% (95% CI = 0.0, 2.4) among non-Hispanic Whites. Overall PCR-based prevalence was 1.5% (95% CI = 0.5, 3.1).Conclusions. Rhode Island had low seroprevalence relative to other settings, but seroprevalence was substantially higher among African Americans/Blacks and Hispanics/Latinos. Rhode Island sits along the highly populated northeast corridor, making our findings broadly relevant to this region of the country. Continued monitoring via population-based sampling is needed to quantify these impacts going forward. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print February 18, 2021: e1-e4. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.306115).