New Delhi: The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday announced that B.1.617.2 and B.1.617.1 variants of coronavirus, which was first detected in India will be referred to as the ‘Delta And Kappa’ respectively. ‘Today, @WHO announces new, easy-to-say labels for #SARSCoV2 Variants of Concern (VOCs) & Interest (VOIs). They will not replace existing scientific names, but are aimed to help in public discussion of VOI/VOC,’ Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical Covid-19 lead, tweeted on Monday.
An expert group convened by WHO has recommended labeling using letters of the Greek Alphabet, i.e., Alpha, Beta, Gamma, which will be easier and more practical to discuss by non-scientific audiences, the UN health agency said in a statement.
‘The established nomenclature systems for naming and tracking SARS-CoV-2 genetic lineages by GISAID, Nextstrain and Pango are currently and will remain in use by scientists and in scientific research,” it stated.
It said the WHO and its international networks of experts are monitoring changes to the virus. If significant mutations are identified, we can inform countries and the public about any changes needed to react to the variant, and prevent its spread,” it added.
Last month, India had issued an advisory to social media platforms asking them to remove all content referring to the B.1.617.2 strain as the ‘Indian variant’.
“Several media reports have covered the news of World Health Organisation (WHO) classifying B.1. 617 as variant of global concern. Some of these reports have termed the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus as an ‘Indian Variant’. These media reports are without any basis, and unfounded. This is to clarify that the WHO has not associated the term “Indian variant” with the B.1.617 strain of the coronavirus in its 32 page document. In fact, the word “Indian” has not been used in its report on the matter”, the health ministry said in a statement earlier.
By Shivam Urkude || Earth Indian
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