https://apnews.com/f92c8544f1022a1cf111d196af7157eb

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island has been awarded nearly $1.5 million in federal funding to expand efforts to track COVID-19 mutations, state officials announced Wednesday.

The funding comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and was included as part of the $1.9 trillion relief bill that President Joe Biden signed last month. The White House recently announced that $1 billion would go to the CDC and state and local health agencies for genomic sequencing to track virus mutations.