WASHINGTON – ATTN DESK: CAN BE ILLUSTRATED WITH FILE ART OF WHITE HOUSE COVID COORDINATOR JEFF ZIENTS. U.S.
scientists would gain vastly expanded capabilities to identify potentially deadlier mutations of the coronavirus under COVID-19 relief legislation advancing in Congress.
The U.S. now maps only the genetic makeup of a minuscule fraction of positive virus samples, a situation some experts liken to flying blind.
It means the true domestic spread of problematic mutations first identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa remains a matter of guesswork.