# Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Thread - 2021 Breaking News **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [January 1, 2021, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428 "2021-01-01T08:03:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 1220
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1220 "2021-04-26T15:51:05Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > Millions of Hindu devotees [celebrated the festival of Holi](https://apnews.com/article/india-holi-celebrations-coronavirus-surge-67d581dabaf885a4be66dd03669f9140) across the country at the end of March, foregoing social distancing guidelines and masks. Politicians, including Modi, spearheaded [mammoth election rallies](https://apnews.com/article/narendra-modi-india-coronavirus-pandemic-elections-4f72b64bea1ff112d83d4a2a5486a1c7) where tens of thousands participated without masks. And [millions more gathered by the Ganges River for special Hindu prayers](https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-india-coronavirus-pandemic-narendra-modi-hinduism-bcb998e286c5345b734fc4307848df86) as recently as last week. > > Now it’s suspected all these events might have accelerated the unprecedented surge India is seeing now. That might have contributed to the surge, but not much is being said of the “double mutant” strain of the virus found in India. (Some media outlets are terming it “triple-mutant”; don’t know what that means and if it refers to the same strain.) Also how are superspreader events held to blame? There is certainly not enough data to prove that the Hindu festivals or the thousands of Ramadaan iftaar parties happening all over India are to blame for this surge. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428)._