How did the coronavirus outbreak in India get so bad?

The second variant, B. 1.617, became the dominant variant in the state of Maharashtra, according to Nature. This variant is sometimes referred to as the “double mutant” variant because it contains two key mutations found in two other highly infectious strains. So far, however, there is no solid data to suggest that B. 1.617 is more transmissible than other variants, and India is not doing enough genome sequencing to determine whether B. 1.617 originates from the current epidemic.