India's battle with a second wave of COVID-19 is making headlines with record-breaking daily cases and a rising death toll. The country recently surpassed more than 379,000 new COVID-19 cases in a single day, the biggest total recorded globally since the pandemic began.
It's a grim reminder that the pandemic is far from over, even as the U.S. hits promising vaccination milestones.
Some experts are pointing to an emerging "triple mutant strain" or "triple mutant variant" of coronavirus as one possible reason for the uptick in India's cases. While the term may sound scary, it's simply another strain among many throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Viruses are constantly changing through mutations, and variants have been emerging from the very beginning of the pandemic. So far, only a few are of real concern, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here's what you need to know about the triple mutant variant, according to infectious disease experts, and how to help India fight the new surge of coronavirus cases.