Mobarok Hossain

Materials and methods The institutional review board of the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease and Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) reviewed and approved the protocols (Protocol no: 23080, Version: 1.4) for participant enrollment, sample collection and testing. The protocol was strictly followed to protect the privacy, anonymity and rights of all participants. The informed written consent was obtained from the adult participants.

1 Introduction Since its emergence in late 2019, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has instigated a worldwide pandemic, leading to significant efforts in reducing transmission and developing treatments and vaccines [1, 2]. Genomic surveillance has been crucial in managing the pandemic; the sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 provides insights into its transmission dynamics and evolutionary patterns, as it spreads to new areas [3].