Background
Globally, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has posed the biggest public health challenge of the century.
However, India, has largely been able to keep the mortality low through effective diagnosis,
appropriate treatment measures and contact tracing. In order to fully understand the spread and
evolution of the SARS CoV-2 virus, and to tackle its future spread sequencing and analysing the
genomic data of SARS CoV-2 is required. Any changes to the genetic code, or mutations in the
SARS-CoV-2 virus, can be observed in the samples through genomic sequencing studies. Global
experience has revealed the importance of genomic variants playing a key role in transmission and
subsequent surges. The study of accumulation of mutations in the viral genomes enables us to
compare virus samples and viral lineages in order to understand if local outbreaks are caused by
transmission of single or multiple viral lineages. Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences also
allows us to study the evolution of the virus and assess whether these mutations influence
transmission, clinical outcomes, severity, and their role in developing public health intervention
measures and vaccines.