I would like to know this too. Why didn’t it take off last year and why now?
My prior is that the virus took time to evolve to be hyper-infectious in the local conditions. Fits timescale and may fit theoretical models (many suggest viruses become more infectious but less deadly - not sure if this is the case in India).
Would be great to see good research on this but it will take many months. Early reports and analysis are likely to be wrong.
> evolve to be hyper-infectious in the local conditions
I’ve never heard that idea before, very interesting. I wonder if we will figure out if certain mutations work “better” on certain populations, environmental conditions, etc.
The US too [1] has been slow to implement large-scale sequencing efforts. We have the technology to track the virus more closely [2] [3] but seem oddly unhurried to deploy it widely.
My prior is that the virus took time to evolve to be hyper-infectious in the local conditions. Fits timescale and may fit theoretical models (many suggest viruses become more infectious but less deadly - not sure if this is the case in India).
Would be great to see good research on this but it will take many months. Early reports and analysis are likely to be wrong.