Indian-American physician Vivek Murthy, US President Joe Biden’s pick for Surgeon General, on Sunday said that the deadly COVID-19 is going to “continue to change” and the country has to be ready for it, calling for better genomic surveillance and more investment in contact tracing to deal with the crisis. Murthy, 43, who is playing a key role in shaping the COVID-19 policy of the Biden administration, said there is also a need to invest a lot more in testing and contact tracing, because these are also going to be essential.
The virus is basically telling us that it’s going to continue to change, and we have got to be ready for it. It means we have got to, number one, do much better genomic surveillance, so we can identify variants when they arise. It means we have got to double down on public health measures, like masking and avoiding indoor gatherings, Dr Murthy told ABX News this week. It also means investing more in something we haven’t talked about very much recently, which is…