Sequencing the Virus, Without the Virus

With the rise of computing and genetic research in the 90's the virologists go high-tech. They move away from experiments altogether and into genetic modeling - but do the models have any connection to reality? The wonders of genetic sequencing have been pointed to as the proof of virology’s explanatory power - but when the claimed sequencing of SARS-COV2 is put under the microscope, has the game changed from the realm of science, to science fiction? What's really going on the claim of genetically identifying the SARS-CoV-2 virus is made?