The rapid emergence and spread of SARS-CoV-2 make clear the need for robust systems to detect and track viral threats. A robust surveillance system could have identified SARS-CoV-2 community prevalence and spread sooner, and better prepared the United States for the 2019 outbreak.

This Action Plan outlines broad priorities that should be considered when establishing a national genomic surveillance network, including: (1) Build a Viral Defense System, (2) Be Diverse and Deeply Human, (3) Connect the Dots, (4) Provide More to Do More, (5) Build New Analytic Tools and Make Them Visual, and (6) Rapidly Assess the Threat Posed by New Variants.