WHO blames ‘perfect storm’ of factors for India Covid crisis

Health body says mass gatherings, low vaccination rates and more contagious variants all to blame for surge in cases

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has said India's deadly Covid-19 second wave was caused by a perfect storm" of mass gatherings, low vaccination rates and more contagious variants.

Speaking on Tuesday, WHO spokesperson Tarik Jaarevi warned against blaming mutations of the virus as the sole cause of the tsunami of cases that have engulfed India in recent weeks, pushing the country's healthcare system to the brink of collapse, and said that complacent behaviour had also played a role.