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Competing Interests: Sequencing data for all positive samples are publicly available through COG-UK resources. CB, TS, HT, JGo, RGi, JN, DLVB, and ECW accessed and verified the data. CB, ECW, DLVB, SGan, and CSw were responsible for the decision to submit the Correspondence for publication. CB and TS were responsible for formal analysis, investigation, methodology, visualisation, writing the original draft, and conceptualisation. HT was involved in the investigation, methodology, visualisation, manuscript review and editing, and conceptualisation. JGo was responsible for software, methodology, formal analysis, and data curation. JRMB performed formal analysis and validation. JGan was responsible for the methodology, resources, data curation, and project administration. GY performed formal analysis. RGo was responsible for software, resources, and data curation. ASF, SW, DJJ, LC, VD, OO'N, MC, DS, MF, AE, JP-L, AR, JA, NO'R, SC, MYW, PAW, and CSa were involved with the methodology, resources, data curation, and project administration. EJC was involved with software and project administration. SH, JF, and KA helped with supervision, software, and methodology. MHo performed project administration and supervision. AJ was responsible for methodology, resources, data curation, and project administration. CH, EN, MHu, RM, DH, PP, TC, RGi, JM, NVA, ST, RB, ML, and SB managed resources, data curation, and project administration. BW and SGam handled funding acquisition and project administration with SGam also providing supervision. JN was involved with project administration, supervision, and methodology. SGan performed supervision, funding acquisition, methodology, project administration, writing, review, and editing. DLVB was responsible for supervision, methodology, formal analysis, visualisation, conceptualisation, and writing the original draft. ECW performed supervision, investigation, data curation, conceptualisation, writing, review, and editing. CSw was responsible for supervision, funding acquisition, conceptualisation, project administration, writing, review, and editing. This research was funded in whole, or in part, by the Wellcome Trust (FC011104, FC011233, FC001030, FC001159, FC001827, FC001078, FC001099, and FC001169). TS is supported by a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust grant 210918/Z/18/Z. Unrelated to this Correspondence, CSw reports grants from BMS, Ono-Pharmaceuticals, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche-Ventana, Pfizer, and Archer Dx; personal fees from Genentech, Sarah Canon Research Institute, Medicxi, Metabomed, Bicycle Therapeutics, GRAIL, Amgen, AstraZeneca, BMS, Illumina, GlaxoSmithKline, MSD, and Roche-Ventana; and stock options from Apogen Biotech, Epic Biosciences, GRAIL, Achilles Therapeutics, and Bicycle Therapeutics. We thank Sir Paul Nurse, Jules Marczack, Bobbi Clayton, Gita Mistry, and all the research staff who volunteered to work on the COVID-19 testing pipeline at the Francis Crick Institute. We also thank the staff of the National Institute for Health and Care Research Clinical Research Facility at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust including Dr Mike Brown, Martin Bruce, Kirsty Adams, Miguel Alvarez, Marivic Ricamara, and Dr Mike Gandy at the Health Services Laboratory.