Avoid stigmatization WHO uses Greek letters to name mutated new coronavirus

China News Service, June 1 reported that on May 31, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that it would use Greek letters to name the mutant new coronavirus to avoid stigmatizing the country that first detected and discovered the mutant virus.

The WHO stated that the new nomenclature will be adopted for the variants of coronaviruses currently listed as “variants to be watched” and “variants to be seen”.

According to the new naming system, the B117 variant virus first discovered in the UK will be renamed the Alpha variant virus, the first B1351 found in South Africa will be renamed the Beta variant virus, the first P1 found in Brazil will be renamed the Gamma variant virus, and the first B1617 found in India There are two branches-B16172, which belongs to the variant that should be watched, will be renamed as Delta variant virus, and B16171, which belongs to the variant to be observed, will be renamed as Kappa.

The WHO said that the use of Greek letters for naming is not only for de-stigmatization, but also to simplify the names of variant viruses.

WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said on Twitter that no country should be stigmatized for detecting and reporting variant virus strains.

She said that these Greek letters will not replace the existing scientific names of the mutant viruses.