The current COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, represents a major threat to health in the UK and globally. To fully understand the transmission and evolution of the virus requires sequencing and analysing viral genomes at scale and speed. The numbers of samples calls for a rapid increase in the UK’s pathogen genome sequencing capacity rapidly and robustly.

To provide this increased capacity to collect, sequence and analyse the whole genomes of virus samples in the UK, the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium is pooling the world leading knowledge and expertise in genomics of the four UK Public Health Agencies, multiple regional University hubs, and large sequencing centres such as the Wellcome Sanger Institute.