These investments at the intersection of genomics and health care are leading the shift from a disease-oriented system to one that is more precise, personalized, predictive and preventative. Genome Canada has been laying the foundation for its implementation in clinics across Canada through All for One, Canada's precision health partnership. This strong health genomics foundation has been the engine driving our rapid response to COVID-19 today.
In mid-December, scientists identified and sequenced the genome of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in just 10 days. Scientists around the world, including Canadians, have since been working around the clock to understand what that genome tells us, how it interacts with people and who may be most at risk. They've started to use the viral genome and the mutations it accumulates like a series of fingerprints, so we're able to track the virus's spread and transmission patterns within communities and around the world.
Genomics can also help us understand why some people get very sick while others do not, and identify risks of disease severity and potential health outcomes. This is where CanCOGeN comes in. Announced by the Prime Minister on April 23, CanCOGeN is part of a new national medical and research strategy to combat COVID-19. It is a grassroots effort, led by Genome Canada but driven by Canadian scientists, public health labs and genomics institutions to use genomics to unlock understanding and help shape effective policy.
With the $40 million in federal support announced last week, the network will scale up sequencing of up to 10,000 patients and 150,000 viral genomes from individuals who have tested positive for the virus in order to generate large-scale datasets. CanCOGeN's members include the National Microbiology Lab and provincial public health labs, major genome sequencing centres through CEGn, hospitals, universities, the private sector and the six regional genome centres.
The network will be a coordinated and decentralized model, working with standard protocols for sample collection, data sharing and data analysis across provinces. Results will be shared with public health leaders and deposited in global databases. CanCOGeN will connect with national genomics initiatives around the world, the U.K., the U.S. and elsewhere. It will also align with Canada's national medical and research strategy on COVID-19, including the new Canada immunity task force and national serology study.
The data we collect today will help shape and inform public health policies, including test and trace plans, and will be available to researchers for years to come, enabling studies for future novel viruses to quickly determine how they spread and how to stop them. We are building a sustainable national genomics infrastructure to combat both the current pandemic and the next one.
Beyond the immediate health crisis, we need to think about Canada's future recovery. We know that Canada is not in this fight alone. Countries everywhere have implemented unprecedented health control measures, and how and when we will fully recover economically, socially and psychologically is still unknown. Genomics will make crucial contributions to Canada's economic and social recovery across all regions of the country and key sectors like agriculture, national resource management, advanced manufacturing and public health. It's clear there will be an imperative to develop industrial strategy with an eye to ensuring greater national self-sufficiency, and having made-in-Canada solutions based on genomics and the biosciences will be essential.
This experience has shown us that while we can't predict precisely where science will be needed, it is certain that scientific capacity is essential in a crisis like this, an important lesson we must remember as we emerge from this crisis.
I'll be happy to discuss these ideas further in the question and answer period.