Coronavirus: WHO switches to Greek alphabet for variant names to avoid stigma
- So-called British variant becomes Alpha, South African is Beta, Brazilian is Gamma and Indian is Delta
- Where a disease or virus is first discovered isn’t usually where it actually first emerged
Coronavirus variants with clunky, alphanumeric names have now been assigned the letters of the Greek Alphabet in a bid to simplify discussion and pronunciation while avoiding stigma.
The World Health Organization revealed the new names on Monday amid criticism that those given by scientists such as the so-called South African variant which goes by multiple names including B.1.351, 501Y.V2 and 20H/501Y.V2 were too complicated.
As such, the four coronavirus variants considered of concern by the UN agency and known generally by the public as the UK, South Africa, Brazil and India variants have now been given the letters Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta according to the order of their detection.
Other variants of interest continue down the alphabet.
“While they have their advantages, these scientific names can be difficult to say and recall, and are prone to misreporting,” said the WHO, explaining the decision.
The choice of the Greek Alphabet came after months of deliberations in which other possibilities such as Greek Gods and invented, pseudo-classical names were considered by experts, according to bacteriologist Mark Pallen who was involved in the talks.
But many were already brands, companies or alien names.
Another idea to refer to variants of concern as VOC1, VOC2 etc. was scrapped after he pointed out it resembled an English swear word.
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Historically, viruses have often been associated with the locations from which they are thought to have emerged such as Ebola which is named after the eponymous Congolese river.
But this can be damaging for the places and often inaccurate such as with the so-called ‘Spanish flu’ pandemic of 1918 whose origins are unknown.
“No country should be stigmatised for detecting and reporting variants,” said WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove.
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US anti-extremism groups say the number of attacks and hate crimes against Asian-Americans has exploded since the beginning of the crisis. They lay some of the blame with former president Donald Trump, who repeatedly referred to Covid-19 as the “China virus”.
The Greek alphabet contains 24 letters but there is no plan yet as to where to go next if they are exhausted. Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta and Iota have already been ascribed to variants of interest.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
