Last stage of prevalence study gives an overview of virus situation by 22 June

The last stage in the study on the prevalence of coronavirus in Estonia led by the University of Tartu is conducted from 10 to 21 June. The study will give an overview of the prevalence of the coronavirus and the number of people with coronavirus antibodies in the adult population.

During this stage of the study, 2,500 random-sampled adults from all over Estonia are tested. According to the head of the study, the University of Tartu Professor of Family Medicine Ruth Kalda, this will be the last stage in the study for the time being. Further need for surveys will depend on changes in the virus situation. “Over the summer, we hope to achieve such a level of vaccination that the spread of the virus will no longer paralyse our everyday life as it has so far. University researchers are ready to continue the study, if necessary, when the situation should change,” said Kalda.

Participation in the study

People who are selected to the sample get an invitation to participate in the study from the research company Kantar Emor. First, they are asked to fill in an online questionnaire. Then the participants are sent a web link for registration to testing or they get a call from the Medicum and Synlab call centres to make an appointment for testing at a suitable testing site. The coronavirus sample is collected from the nasopharynx and a venous blood sample is needed to analyse the level of antibodies. The procedure takes about 10 minutes. Disabled or elderly people and other people with impaired mobility may order a testing team to test them at home.

The participants are notified of the test results within three days. The results are also entered in the patient portal. The research team will regularly interview all those who test positive for the coronavirus in the study over the next two to four weeks to follow the course of the disease. The monitoring study of the coronavirus prevalence is conducted by a broad-based research team of the University of Tartu in cooperation with Synlab Estonia, Medicum and Kantar Emor.

Further information on coronavirus antibody testing is available on coronavirus testing website. Information on coronavirus prevalence study is available on the University of Tartu website.

Further information: Ruth Kalda, Head of Institute of Family Medicine and Public Health, Professor of Family Medicine, University of Tartu, +372 5698 5599, ruth.kalda@ut.ee