CDC: 10 Percent Chance for Genomic Sequencing of COVID-19 PCR Nasal Swab

Jose Vatres (R) holds his son Aidin, who reacts as nurse practitioner Alexander Panis (L) takes a nasal swab sample to test for COVID-19 at a mobile testing station in a public school parking area in Compton, Calif., on April 28, 2020. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

In a Feb. 16 tweet, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that a large percentage of nasal swab PCR tests for COVID-19 were ultimately subjected to genomic sequencing analysis, raising red flags among some people about the genetic privacy of individuals who took such tests.

Harvard professor Alberto Ascherio told Newsweek that those genomic sequencing analyses are of viral RNA, not human DNA, with the aim of tracking viral transmission as well as the emergence of new strains.