WHO has modified COVID-19 variants to avoid stigma with Greek letters Coronavirus pandemic News

The UN health agency says one of the aims of the move is to avoid stigmatizing countries where first-time variants of coronavirus are detected.

Variants of the coronavirus must be known through the letters of the Greek alphabet to prevent misrepresentation and stigmatization of previously detected nations, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced.

The new system applies to variants of concern – four of which are the most worrisome in circulation – and monitors secondary variants of interest.

“Although they have advantages, these scientific names can be difficult to say and remember, and they tend to be misrepresented,” the WHO said in a statement.

“As a result, people tend to call it variation depending on where they often perceive it, and that’s stigmatizing and discriminatory.”

Today, @MOE announces new labels that are easy to say # SARS-CoV-2 Variations of concern (VOC) and interests (VOC)

They will not replace existing scientific names, but aim to contribute to the public debate on VOI / VOC

Read more here (will be live soon):
https://t.co/VNvjJn8Xcv# COVID-19 pic.twitter.com/L9YOfxmKW7

– Maria Van Kerkhove (@mvankerkhove) May 31, 2021

The four coronavirus variants, which are considered worrying by the United Nations agency and generally known to the public as the UK, South Africa, Brazil and India variants, have been given the letters Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, in order of detection.

Other variants of interest remain in the alphabet.

“Labels do not replace existing scientific names that provide important scientific information and will continue to be used in research,” tweeted WHO technical director Maria Van Kerkhove.

“These tags will help in the public discussion of VOC / VOI, as it can be difficult to follow the numbering system.”

The WHO said in a statement that the media and national authorities were encouraged to adopt the new labels.

Earlier this month, US President Joe Biden he signed the hate crime law COVID-19 aims to protect Asian Americans who have been attacked in the pandemic.

U.S. extremist groups say the number of attacks and hate crimes against Asian Americans has exploded since the crisis began.

Former President Donald Trump has been blamed for repeatedly saying COVID-19 is a “Chinese virus.”

Monthly deliberations

The choice of the Greek alphabet came after months of deliberations, where other options, such as the Greek God and the pseudo-classical invented names, were examined by experts, according to bacteriologist Mark Pallen, who participated in the talks.

But many were already brand names, companies or foreigners.

Another idea to refer to the concern variant as VOC1, VOC2, etc. was thrown out after it was stated that it resembled an English sworn word.

Historically, viruses have often been associated with places where they originated, such as Ebola, which bears the name of the Congolese river of the same name.

But this can be detrimental to places and often inaccurate, such as with the so-called “Spanish flu” pandemic of 1918, whose origin is unknown.

Prior to the new WHO scheme, some scientists adopted their simplified nomenclature using bird names for variants such as the February paper. However, this could endanger the birds and was criticized by the mother of a girl named Robin.