Epidemiological survey and active screening for COVID-19: Investigating the circulation and effect of SARS-CoV-2 on the population of the health district of Cité Verte in Yaounde

In many countries the COVID-19 pandemic has led to severe strains on health systems and unprecedented levels of societal disruption. While Sub-Saharan Africa has not been completely spared, the epidemic in this region appears to have been relatively less severe. The reasons for the mitigated impact of COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa are not fully understood, although several hypotheses have been proposed. Explaining the cross-country variance in COVID-19 impact requires, most importantly, a clear assessment of the actual extent of populations’ exposure to the virus and the typical manifestations of infection. We thus surveyed the seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgM/IgG antibodies, and COVID-19-like symptomaticity, in Cité Verte, an urban district of Yaounde, in central Cameroon.