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Labs across U.S. test for COVID Omicron variant
CBSN
Labs across the United States are testing to see where Omicron COVID-19 variant will emerge first. The U.S. is sequencing 80,000 positive PCR tests per week to test for variants and learn how fast the variant is spreading — and how infectious it is.
About 2,000 of those sequences occur at the Pandemic Response Lab in New York City, which "CBS Mornings" lead national correspondent David Begnaud visited.
The lab is "sequencing the COVID genome of thousands of positive COVID samples," said Jon Laurent, head of research and development at the lab.
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Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a high-stakes meeting at this year's Munich Security conference to discuss the Trump administration's efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Vance said the U.S. seeks a "durable" peace, while Zelenskyy expressed the desire for extensive discussions to prepare for any end to the conflict.
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It was Labor Day weekend 2003 when Matt Scribner, a local horse farrier and trainer who also competes in long-distance horse races, was on his usual ride in a remote part of the Sierra Nevada foothills — just a few miles northeast of Auburn, California —when he noticed a freshly dug hole along the trail that piqued his curiosity.