It was decided to rename the new variants of the coronavirus – from now on they will be designated not by geography, but by the letters of the Greek alphabet. This was done for reasons of political correctness and a desire to avoid the “stigmatization” of those countries where COVID-19 mutations are found.
Under the new system disclosed by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Kent variant of the coronavirus will now be known as Alpha, the Indian variant as Delta, and the South African variant as Beta.
According to Sky News, the scientific names used for the coronavirus variants – B.1.1.7, B.1.617.2 and B.1.351 – were considered too difficult to remember, but there were also concerns about referencing them by geographic location. variants were first discovered.
Critics warn that this practice could stigmatize countries where options are first discovered, and some warn that the rise in coverage of the so-called Indian option as it becomes more widespread could contribute to racism against Indians.
Human rights activists say that “political parties and groups … have seized on the COVID-19 crisis to advance anti-immigrant white supremacist, ultranationalist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic conspiracy theories that demonize refugees, foreigners, celebrities and political leaders.”
Last year, the fact that the coronavirus pandemic originated in China has led to an increase in hate crimes against people of Asian descent, and former US President Donald Trump has been condemned for regularly calling the coronavirus “the Chinese virus.” And as American anti-extremist groups note, the rise in hate crimes is partly due to Trump’s talk about the “China virus.”
According to the human rights group End the Virus of Racism, hate crimes in British communities in East and Southeast Asia increased by 300% during the pandemic.
As a result, WHO tried to rename the new variants using a different system. At the same time, according to The Guardian, the organization said that the new names will not replace existing scientific names, including numbers, Latin letters and dots, which convey important scientific information and will continue to be used in research.
The WHO stated: “While these scientific names have their advantages, they can be difficult to pronounce, memorize, and prone to distortion … As a result, people often resort to naming variants according to the places where they are found, which is stigmatizing and discriminatory. … To avoid this and to facilitate communication with the public, WHO encourages national authorities, the media and other parties to use these new names. ”
Here are the new names for each variant of the coronavirus, according to Sky News:
– Kent / B.1.1.7 – Alpha
– South African / B.1.351 – Beta
– Brazilian / P.1 – Gamma
– Indian / B.1.617.2 – Delta
– American / B.1.427 / B.1.429 – Epsilon
– Brazilian / P.2 – Zeta
– B.1.525 – This
– Filipino / P.3 – Theta
– American / B.1.526 – Iota
– Indian / B.1.617.1 – Kappa
According to bacteriologist Mark Pallen, who took part in the negotiations, the decision to switch to the naming system by letters of the Greek alphabet was made after several months of discussions with experts, during which ideas such as the use of names of Greek gods and pseudo-classical names were put forward. However, many of these names are already used as names for brands, companies, etc.
As noted by Sky News, viruses have historically been named after the places where they were first discovered. For example, the Ebola virus was named after a river in the Congo. But such labeling can be devastating and sometimes inaccurate, as the Spanish flu pandemic retains its name, despite the fact that its origin is unknown.
“No country should be stigmatized for identifying and reporting options,” says WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove.
.