The Indian Government has said that a new variant of the coronavirus first detected in the country in March may be tied to a deadly second wave.

Samples having the double mutant, or the B.1.617 variant, have been identified in many states with high case count. An official with the National Centre for Disease Control; however, stated that they had still not been able to fully establish a correlation. The country registered a record 412,000 cases in a span of 24 hours on Wednesday, and 3,980 fatalities.

Governments top scientific adviser also cautioned that a third wave is imminent and that we need to be prepared for future waves…(BBC, May 6, 2021)