China's COVID surge prompts CDC to expand a hunt for new variants among air travelers

In hopes of getting a better sense of which SARS-CoV-2 variants might be coming into the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently expanded its voluntary testing of some passengers exiting from international flights at certain airports. (Rick Bowmer/AP)

It's early morning at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C.,
and Ana Valdez is already hard at work at one of the international gates.

"Hello everybody. Welcome," she shouts with a big smile as arriving travelers flood through two large swinging doors. "Do you like to help the CDC to find new variants for COVID?"

Valdez works for a year-old program that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently expanded to try to spot new variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, coming into the country.