Live: WHO says religious, political events among factors behind India’s Covid surge

As Covid-19 continues to ravage India, the World Health Organisation has said that a risk assessment found “religious and political mass gathering events” were among the factors that led to a resurgence of virus transmission in the country.

The UN agency said that some of the other factors include “increase in the proportion of cases of SARS-CoV-2 variants with potentially increased transmissibility” and reduced adherence to public health and social measures. The WHO said that the exact contributions of these factors on increased transmission in India were not well understood yet.

India reported 362,727 new Covid-19 infections over the last 24 hours and 4,120 deaths, taking the toll to 258,317. Experts say the actual case tally and deaths could be much higher that official data.

Prime minister Narendra Modi and other political leaders have faced a backlash for addressing mass election rallies where proper precautions were not followed. The central government also didn't stop a religious festival — the Kumbh Mela — that was attended by millions of devotees.

Meanwhile in the US, an advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for use in children aged 12 to 15. Some states, including Georgia, had already begun offering the vaccine to this age group on Tuesday.

Watch: What UK government COVID-19 support is available?