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Covid-19: Virus variants get Greek alphabets as names

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Reuters

Reuters

The move by the World Health Organisation to avoid stigmatising countries

Published: Mon 31 May 2021, 9:23 PM

Updated: Mon 31 May 2021, 9:24 PM

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  • ANI

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced new labels for Covid variants of concern (VOC) and interest (VOI).

An expert group convened by the WHO has recommended using Greek alphabets for Covid variants to be used by non-scientific audiences. The virus known as British variant will be called Alpha while the one earlier known as South African variant will be called Beta.

Covid variant first found in India will be referred to as 'Delta' while earlier found variant in the country will be known as 'Kappa'

Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, Technical lead Covid-19 at WHO, said the labels don’t replace existing scientific names, which convey important scientific information and will continue to be used in research. “No country should be stigmatised for detecting and reporting Covid variants.”



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