End stigma, aid science: WHO hopes Greek names for Covid strains will do so

A country may be more willing to report it has found a new variant if it knows nomenclature won't cause trouble, say experts.

A new naming system for variants of Covid-19 using Greek alphabets has been announced, WHO said in a statement on Monday.

The agency has named four variants of concern, known to the public as the UK/Kent (B.1.1.7), South Africa (B.1.351), Brazil (P.1) and India (B.1.617.2) variants as letters Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta respectively. The earlier variant detected in India will be known as Kappa.

Maria Van Kerkhove, Covid-19 technical lead at WHO, said in Twitter posts the new labels for SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concerns (VoCs) and Interests (VoIs) will not replace existing scientific names and will continue to be