India’s COVID-19 crisis: What is to blame?

Other possible factors cited were India’s young population and that greater exposure to other pathogens increased resistance to the virus.

But possibly because of a new variant, cases took off again in March. This month alone, India has recorded more than four million new COVID-19 infections.

While the COVID-19 pandemic raged elsewhere at the start of 2021, in India, daily infections slid to under 9,000 with fewer than 80 deaths.

This raised hopes that India, despite having some of the planet’s most densely populated cities, had somehow escaped the worst.

Blood surveys suggested that a hefty proportion of the population might have antibodies, and that India might have achieved “herd immunity”.

India is reeling from a new COVID-19 surge, stretching hospitals to the limit with dire shortages of beds, oxygen and drugs as more than 2,000 people die daily.

Here’s a look at the reasons for the vicious new wave and why the healthcare system is overwhelmed.