SARS-CoV-2 Under Surveillance To keep track of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, institutions tasked with viral surveillance need to devote more resources to genome sequencing March 4, 2021 In this illustration of SARS-CoV-2, just half the virion is displayed to reveal coiled RNA that would otherwise remain hidden within the capsid. This RNA accumulates mutations, resulting in SARS-CoV-2 variants that threaten to outpace the development of vaccines and antivirals. To identify the variants as they arise, laboratories must step up their sequencing efforts. [Joao Paulo Burini/Getty Images] Share Every pandemic is attended by expressions of fear and grief, the imposition of life-altering public health measures, and attempts to blame foreigners or other disfavored peoples. In all these respects, the current COVID-19 pandemic is like its predecessors. But the COVID-19 pandemic is playing out differently in terms of surveillance. COVID-19’s causative agent—the SARS-CoV-2 virus—can be subjected to exceptionally close surveillance because we now possess sophisticated genomic sequencing technology. Sequencing information about the viral genome can be gathered so quickly—almost in real time—that it can power a dynamic public health response.