Health Desk | | Published 15.05.21, 11:16 AM Scientists are studying what led to the unexpected surge in India, which is now recording one of the sharpest spikes in coronavirus infections globally. It is now known that the virus seems to have been mutating around the new year. As per evidence, virologists believe it is now more transmissible and able to evade pre-existing immunity. Shaheed Jameel, who chairs the Scientific Advisory Group for the Indian SARS-CoV2 Consortium on Genomics, says there are two variants that are fuelling the current second wave of infections across the country. These are the B.1.617 and the B.1.1.7 as per data available with the consortium, which was set up by the Indian government in January as a grouping of national laboratories that use genetic sequencing to track the emergence and circulation of viral variants.