New coronavirus variants that are believed to spread more easily and faster than the original version have been detected in several countries, sparking concerns in the United States that the authorities are not prepared to deal with the new threat.

The New York Times editorial board on December 22 called for better disease surveillance and was critical of the Trump administration's response as news broke about new variants detected in the UK and South Africa. 

The editorial noted that as the situation has intensified, many countries restricted visits from the UK, while state and local authorities in the U.S., have largely had to deal with the epidemic by themselves as U.S. President Donald Trump has done little to address it.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has asked all passengers flying from the UK to New York to show a negative COVID-19 test before they get on planes and the U.S. government announced, almost a week later, that it will require all airline passengers arriving from the UK to test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of departure starting Monday. 

Calling out the limited government action, the New York Times editorial board wrote that while travel restrictions work to a certain degree, the country urgently needs genomic surveillance, which can help provide key information about how the coronavirus evolves and trace its spread.

"Travel restrictions might make sense, but what this country really needs is better disease surveillance," the editorial board wrote. 

"Genomic surveillance is also one of the few ways officials can determine whether, where and how to put travel restrictions in place."

The U.S. faces an unprecedented holiday season amid a pandemic that has killed nearly 330,000 people in the country, with a daily death toll now repeatedly well over 3,000 people, the highest in the world.

(With input from agencies)