Omicron: Why WHO Skipped 2 Greek Letters While Naming New Covid Strain
NDTV
The Internet is full of theories on why letters 13 and 14 Nu and Xi were skipped by the World Health Organisation.
“Omicron”, the new Covid variant that has the world on alert, has been named after the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet. The first 12 have already been used for naming other strains. A WHO source confirmed the letters Nu and Xi of the Greek alphabet had been deliberately avoided. Nu had been skipped to avoid confusion with the word "new" and Xi had been skipped to "avoid stigmatising a region", they said.All pandemics inherently political! He who must not be named. It appears the W.H.O. has skipped the next Greek letter after Nu to name the new variant. The next letter is Xi. The concern is that W.H.O. is again avoiding any discomfort for the Chinese government. So they named it Omicron... News of new Nu variant, but WHO is jumping the alphabet to call it Omicron, so they can avoid Xi. pic.twitter.com/UJ4xMwg52i
Why were letters 13 and 14 – Nu and Xi – skipped by the World Health Organisation?
The Internet is full of theories.
Many said the letters were avoided for a reason.