Objectives The aim of this study was to trace contacts of COVID-19 hospitalised patients and determine the risk factors of infection in urban areas. Study design Longitudinal analysis of contacts identified from index cases. Methods A contact tracing study was carried out in the Northern Metropolitan area of Barcelona, Spain, during the inter-epidemic lapse of May to July 2020, a period of low SARS-CoV-2 incidence. Index cases were notified from the referral hospital. Contacts were traced and followed-up for 14 days. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed at day 0 and day 14 for contacts. Results In total, 368 contacts were identified from 81 index cases (median of 7 contacts per index case), from which 308 were traced successfully. The median age of contacts was of 28 years old, 62% (223 of 368) were males and 28 were non-nationals (34.1%). During the follow-up period, 100 contacts tested positive for COVID-19 (32.5% [95% confidence interval {CI} = 27.3–38.0]), with a secondary infection rate of 48.3% (95% CI = 40.8–55.9) among housemates. Clusters of index and respective contacts tended to aggregate within disadvantaged neighbourhoods (p < 0.001), and non-national index cases resulted in higher secondary infection rates compared with nationals (51.0% [95% CI = 41.0–60.9] vs 22.3% [95% CI = 16.8–28.8]; p < 0.001). Conclusions Disadvantaged communities experience a disproportionate burden of COVID-19 and may act as infection reservoirs. Contact tracing with a cross-cutting approach among these communities is required, especially during inter-epidemic periods.

Patient: Male, 51-year-old Final Diagnosis: COVID-19 Symptoms: Anosmia • dysgeusia • nocturnal diaphoresis Medication: — Clinical Procedure: — Specialty: Infectious Diseases Objective: Rare co-existance of disease or pathology Background: Coinfection with severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MBT) has been reported, albeit rarely, in various parts of the world and has received attention from health systems because up to one-third of the world’s population has been infected with SARS-CoV-2. Mexico was not included in the first-ever report on a global cohort of patients with this coinfection. We report on a case of SARS-CoV-2/MBT coinfection in a 51-year-old taxi driver from Mexico City that underscores the importance of rapid and accurate laboratory testing, diagnosis, and treatment. Case Report: We present the case of a man in the sixth decade of life who was admitted to the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases (INER) with a diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia, which was confirmed by nasopharyngeal exudate using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the identification of SARS-CoV-2. Findings from imaging studies suggested that the patient might be coinfected with MBT. That suspicion was confirmed with light microscopy of a sputum sample after Ziehl-Neelsen staining and when a Cepheid Xpert MTB/RIF assay, an automated semi-quantitative RT-PCR assay, failed to detect rifampicin resistance. The patient was discharged from the hospital 10 days later. Conclusions: The present report underscores the importance of using validated molecular diagnostic tests to identify coin-fections in areas where there is a high prevalence of other causes of pneumonia, such as MBT, as a way to improve clinical outcomes in patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. While it is imperative to control the COVID-19 pandemic, the medical community must not forget about the other pandemics to which populations are still prey, and tuberculosis is one of them. We must remain alert to any clinical subtleties so as to ensure timely and accurate diagnosis and stay one step ahead of COVID-19.

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