WHO renames COVID-19 variants with Greek letters to avoid stigma

The UN agency says one aim is to avoid stigmatising the countries where coronavirus variants are first detected.

Coronavirus variants are to be known by letters of the Greek alphabet to avoid misreporting and stigmatising nations where they were first detected, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced. The new system applies to variants of concern – the most troubling of which four are in circulation – and the second-level variants of interest being tracked. “While they have their advantages, these scientific names can be difficult to say and recall, and are prone to misreporting,” the WHO said in a statement.