Coronavirus strain first detected in India to be called ‘Delta variant’, says WHO

The World Health Organization has announced a new naming system for variants of Covid-19, WHO Health Emergencies Programme Technical Lead Maria Van Kerkhove said. The names will not replace scientific names but were aimed at helping public discussion of “variants of interest/variants of concern”.

The world health body said it will use Greek letters to refer to variants first found in countries like the United Kingdom, South Africa and India.

The strain (B.1.1.7) first detected in Britain will be called the Alpha variant, the South African one (B.1.351) will be referred to as the Beta variant. The strain found first in Brazil (P.1) will be called the Gamma variants and the Indian strain, or B.1.617.2, will be known as the Delta variant.

“No country should be stigmatised for detecting and reporting variants,” she tweeted. “Globally, we need robust surveillance for variants, including epi, molecular and sequencing to be carried out and shared. We need to continue to do all we can to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2.”

Kerkhove said that this could help in reaching out to a mass audience. “We’re not saying replace B.1.1.7, but really just to try to help some of the dialogue with the average person,” she told US-based website STAT. “So that in public discourse, we…

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