One State, Five Waves, Ten Dimensions: A Comprehensive Review of SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Surveillance in Goa, India (2020–2025) with a Futuristic Roadmap

This review synthesises the complete findings of nine original research papers on SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance in Goa, India (Kamat et al., 2026a–i), representing the most comprehensive multi-dimensional genomic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 for any Indian state during the 2020–2025 pandemic period. Across 1,274 sequences (GISAID EPI_SET_260610gh), the series documented five pandemic waves, 110 PANGO lineages, spike protein evolution through 487 unique mutations, vaccine epitope erosion from 12.3% to 61.7%, conserved structural and replicase proteins, accessory protein immune evasion architecture, a genome quality landscape where 55.8% of sequences failed quality thresholds, a molecular clock signal of r=0.877, and a surveillance infrastructure with 95.5-day median submission lag and a 527-day gap in 2024. Five original composite infographics synthesise these findings. A futuristic roadmap for 2026–2030 is presented targeting a Goa One-Health Pathogen Genomics Centre by 2030. Data: GISAID EpiCoV EPI_SET_260610gh (https://doi.org/10.55876/gis8.260610gh). We gratefully acknowledge all data contributors, i.e., the Authors and their Originating laboratories responsible for obtaining the specimens, and their Submitting laboratories for generating the genetic sequence and metadata and sharing via the GISAID Initiative, on which this research is based. GISAID citations: Elbe & Buckland-Merrett (2017) Global Challenges 1:33–46. doi:10.1002/gch2.1018 | Shu & McCauley (2017) Euro Surveill 22(13):30494. doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2017.22.13.30494 | Khare et al. (2021) China CDC Weekly 3(49):1049–1051. doi:10.46234/ccdcw2021.255