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Background There is an urgent need to elucidate the epidemiology of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) and characterize its potential impact. Investing in characterising the SARS-CoV2 will help plan and improve the response to the pandemic. Furthermore, it will help identify the most efficient ways of managing the pandemic, avoiding public health policies and interventions that may be unduly restrictive of normal activity or unnecessarily costly. This paper describes the design and reports findings of a population based epidemiological study undertaken to characterise SARS-CoV2 in Qatar using limited resources in a timely manner. Methods Asymptomatic individuals ≥10 years registered with Qatar’s publicly funded primary health provider were eligible. A stratified random sampling technique was utilized to identify the study sample. Participants were invited to an appointment where they completed a questionnaire and provided samples for polymerase chain reaction and Immunoglobulin M and G immunoassay tests. Data collected were analyzed to calculate point and period prevalence by sociodemographic, lifestyle and clinical characteristics. Results Of 18,918 individuals invited for the study, 2084 participated (response rate 10.8%). The overall point prevalence and period prevalence were estimated to be 1.6% (95% CI 1.1–2.2) and 14.6% (95% CI 13.1–16.2) respectively. Period prevalence of SARS-CoV2 infection was not considerably different across age groups (9.7–19.8%). It was higher in males compared to females (16.2 and 12.7% respectively). A significant variation was observed by nationality (7.1 to 22.2%) and municipalities (6.9–35.3%). Conclusions The study provides an example of a methodologically robust approach that can be undertaken in a timely manner with limited resources. It reports much-needed epidemiological data about the spread of SARS-CoV2. Given the low prevalence rates, majority of the population in Qatar remains susceptible. Enhanced surveillance must continue to be in place, particularly due to the large number of asymptomatic cases observed. Robust contact tracing and social distancing measures are key to prevent future outbreaks.Other Information Published in: BMC Infectious Diseases License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12879-021-06251-z

Additional file 1. Additional tables.

Additional file 1: Table S1.. Study strata. Table S2. Sample size determination and response rate by strata. Table S3. Validity parameters for IgG serology. Table S4. Nationality categories. Table S5. Point prevalence ratios of SARS-CoV2 by age, gender, nationality and municipality. Table S6. Period prevalence ratios of SARS-CoV2 by age, gender, nationality and municipality. Table S7. Period prevalence ratios of SARS-CoV2 by sociodemographic, lifestyle and clinical characteristics.

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-jpc-10.1177_21501327211050569 for Antibody Response to SARS-CoV-2: A Cohort Study in Qatar’s Primary Care Settings by Mohamed Ahmed Syed, Hamda Abdulla A/Qotba, Ahmed Sameer Al Nuaimi, Gheyath K. Nasrallah, Asmaa Ali J. F. Althani, Abduljaleel Abdullatif Zainel, Hanan Khudadad, Tamara Marji, Shajitha Thekke Veettil, AlAnoud Saleh AlFehaidi, Ameena Ibrahim Yfakhroo, Meshal Abdulla AlMesaifri, Tholfakhar Talib Al-Baghdadi, Hanan Al Mujalli, Samya Ahmad Al Abdulla and Mariam Ali Abdulmalik in Journal of Primary Care & Community Health

There is an urgent need to elucidate the epidemiology of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) and characterize its potential impact. Investing in characterising the SARS-CoV2 will help plan and improve the response to the pandemic. Furthermore, it will help identify the most efficient ways of managing the pandemic, avoiding public health policies and interventions that may be unduly restrictive of normal activity or unnecessarily costly. This paper describes the design and reports findings of a population based epidemiological study undertaken to characterise SARS-CoV2 in Qatar using limited resources in a timely manner. Asymptomatic individuals ≥10 years registered with Qatar's publicly funded primary health provider were eligible. A stratified random sampling technique was utilized to identify the study sample. Participants were invited to an appointment where they completed a questionnaire and provided samples for polymerase chain reaction and Immunoglobulin M and G immunoassay tests. Data collected were analyzed to calculate point and period prevalence by sociodemographic, lifestyle and clinical characteristics. Of 18,918 individuals invited for the study, 2084 participated (response rate 10.8%). The overall point prevalence and period prevalence were estimated to be 1.6% (95% CI 1.1-2.2) and 14.6% (95% CI 13.1-16.2) respectively. Period prevalence of SARS-CoV2 infection was not considerably different across age groups (9.7-19.8%). It was higher in males compared to females (16.2 and 12.7% respectively). A significant variation was observed by nationality (7.1 to 22.2%) and municipalities (6.9-35.3%). The study provides an example of a methodologically robust approach that can be undertaken in a timely manner with limited resources. It reports much-needed epidemiological data about the spread of SARS-CoV2. Given the low prevalence rates, majority of the population in Qatar remains susceptible. Enhanced surveillance must continue to be in place, particularly due to the large number of asymptomatic cases observed. Robust contact tracing and social distancing measures are key to prevent future outbreaks. This study was funded by PHCC. The funders had no role in the design, analysis, interpretation, or writing. The first three authors had full access to all the data had final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication. Open Access funding provided by the Qatar National Library