The Institute of Molecular Medicine (IMM) carried out, between 1 and 13 March, a new serological study with the "objective of evaluating the evolution of the percentage of the population with antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus".

This new study is a continuation of the National Serological Panel that took place between September and October last year. Once more, it had the partnership of the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Society (SFMS) and the Jerónimo Martins Group.

The study included 3000 of the volunteers who participated in the first study and who had a negative serological result.

The serological tests were carried out, free of charge for the volunteers, at the “collection stations throughout the country” of the Germano de Sousa laboratories.

The conclusions of the first serological panel were released at the end of December 2020. It revealed that about 1.9% of the Portuguese population had developed antibodies against covid-19 and that there were major differences between the coast and the interior of the country. This first study involved more than 13 thousand participants.