Super spreaders

Experts remain divided on the question of whether the slow yet steady rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country over February 2021 is indicative of the onset of a second wave.

A phenomenon of infections that can develop during a pandemic. The disease infects one group of people first. Infections appear to decrease. And then, infections increase in a different part of the population, resulting in a second wave of infections.

Globally, nations in Europe that witnessed a spike in May 2020 have slowly started emerging out of the grip of COVID-19. As the number of cases dropped, countries also let their guard down, opened up the economy, and resumed travel and near-normal activity.
In November 2020, the second wave struck. Experts say countries in Europe that had managed to get away lightly with the first wave were nearly crippled by the second one.

After infections peaked in September 2020, cases across the country had been steadily declining, with the exception of Kerala, an outlier State that continued to see high numbers after having seen initial success in flattening the curve.
However, in the last week of February 2021, the trend reversed, with some States beginning to report higher numbers.
The spikes are caused by a series of super-spreader events, or clusters.

Super spreader is an individual who is highly contagious and capable of transmitting a communicable disease to an unusually large number of uninfected individuals
Cluster event refers to an aggregation of cases grouped in place and time that are suspected to be greater than the number expected, even though the expected number may not be known.
Outbreak carries the same definition of epidemic, but is often used for a more limited geographic area.

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