Disease experts warn of surge in deaths from Covid variants as US lags in tracking

Despite having a well-developed genomic sequencing infrastructure, a national surveillance program was never enacted

Experts who have spent the last year forecasting Covid-19 transmission across the US are now considering scenarios for the spread of new, more infectious strains of the coronavirus.

At the same time, the US continues to lag in surveillance for coronavirus variants, despite having among the most well-developed genomic sequencing infrastructure in the world.