The idea that 172 different strains of the Flu virus can be accurately detected and tracked, but suddenly adding a 173rd virus (COVID19) to the mix would mess up their survey seems a bit ridiculous to me.
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These flu-surveys are extremely important for designing next year's flu vaccine. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of flu strains, since that virus is constantly evolving. But the flu vaccine can only protect against 5ish strains.
Some strains (in particular: Flu TypeA) are known to spread much faster than others (ie: Flu TypeC). So even if TypeC is more common, maybe Flu TypeA is prioritized because of the risk of it becoming a pandemic a year out.
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These flu-surveys are extremely important for designing next year's flu vaccine. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of flu strains, since that virus is constantly evolving. But the flu vaccine can only protect against 5ish strains.
Some strains (in particular: Flu TypeA) are known to spread much faster than others (ie: Flu TypeC). So even if TypeC is more common, maybe Flu TypeA is prioritized because of the risk of it becoming a pandemic a year out.