Arcadia Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/is-it-all-greek-you-coronavirus-variants-get-new-names-2021-05-31/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-57308592 “The WHO, which has urged people not to use language to advance COVID-19 profiling of people or nationalities, has also said people should avoid using country names in association with emerging variants. The four coronavirus variants considered of concern by the U.N. agency and known generally by the public as the UK, South Africa, Brazil and India variants have now been assigned the Greek letters Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta, respectively, according to the order of their detection. Other variants of interest continue down the alphabet. "While they have their advantages, these scientific names can be difficult to say and recall, and are prone to misreporting," said the WHO, explaining the decision. The choice of the Greek alphabet came after months of deliberations in which other possibilities such as Greek gods and invented, pseudo-classical names were considered, according to bacteriologist Mark Pallen, who was involved in the talks.“ https://www.who.int/en/activities/tracking-SARS-CoV-2-variants/ “ WHO label Pango lineage GISAID clade/lineage Nextstrain clade Earliest documented samples Date of designation Alpha B.1.1.7 GRY (formerly GR/501Y.V1) 20I/S:501Y.V1 United Kingdom, Sep-2020 18-Dec-2020 Beta B.1.351 GH/501Y.V2 20H/S:501Y.V2 South Africa, May-2020 18-Dec-2020 Gamma P.1 GR/501Y.V3 20J/S:501Y.V3 Brazil, Nov-2020 11-Jan-2021 Delta B.1.617.2 G/452R.V3 21A/S:478K India, Oct-2020 VOI: 4-Apr-2021 VOC: 11-May-2021 WHO label Pango lineage GISAID clade/lineage Nextstrain clade Earliest documented samples Date of designation Epsilon B.1.427/B.1.429 GH/452R.V1 20C/S.452R United States of America, Mar-2020 5-Mar-2021 Zeta P.2 GR 20B/S.484K Brazil, Apr-2020 17-Mar-2021 Eta B.1.525 G/484K.V3 20A/S484K Multiple countries, Dec-2020 17-Mar-2021 Theta P.3 GR 20B/S:265C Philippines, Jan-2021 24-Mar-2021 Iota B.1.526 GH 20C/S:484K United States of America, Nov-2020 24-Mar-2021 Kappa B.1.617.1 G/452R.V3 21A/S:154K India, Oct-2020 4-Apr-2021 “ 4 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 I think it's good news. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bibiche Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 But c’mon! They should use the actual alphabet. What, are we slackers? 😈 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 Yeah, this is a relief. So far it didn't seem like any of the variants had led to the sort of hate crimes that the early pandemic spawned against Asian Americans (and that have continued) but it occurred to me that it could, especially with ones associated with Africa and Latin America. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 I'm glad to hear this. A few months ago dh related a discussion he had had with his boss about why COVID really shouldn't be called "Asian Flu." His boss replied that he didn't understand why not, people had be using geographic identifiers for a long time, "like the Spanish Flu!" 🤦♀️ DH forbade me from calling his boss to give him a history lesson. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wathe Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 I really like this. I wonder if it will stick. Also, we're already at Kappa? At this rate, we're going to run out of Greek letters by the end of the year. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 39 minutes ago, Plum said: So now Greeks will be blamed for pandemics and hurricanes?!? lol They only used Greek letters for the "overflow hurricanes," when they ran out of names, right? 5 hours ago, wathe said: Also, we're already at Kappa? At this rate, we're going to run out of Greek letters by the end of the year. Maybe they will work something out with the weather service to borrow names for the overflow variants.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terabith Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 Very happy about this but going to struggle mapping the new names onto my mental models of which variants are which. I am going to need a cheat sheet. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 1 minute ago, Terabith said: Very happy about this but going to struggle mapping the new names onto my mental models of which variants are which. I am going to need a cheat sheet. I've memorised our local demons - alpha and delta. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 15 minutes ago, Terabith said: Very happy about this but going to struggle mapping the new names onto my mental models of which variants are which. I am going to need a cheat sheet. Me too — I feel like I finally had a good handle on where each number variant came from and what the main mutations were (e.g. which ones had the E484K/Q mutations), and now I have to start over, lol. Also, I wish they had labeled related variants from the same place with an extra number or something — like calling the B1617.1 and B1617.2 variants from India Delta1 and Delta2 instead of Delta & Kappa. And yet they combined the B1427 and B1429 (California) variants and just labeled them both as Epsilon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted June 1, 2021 Author Share Posted June 1, 2021 30 minutes ago, Terabith said: Very happy about this but going to struggle mapping the new names onto my mental models of which variants are which. I am going to need a cheat sheet. 27 minutes ago, Laura Corin said: I've memorised our local demons - alpha and delta. 7 minutes ago, Corraleno said: Me too — I feel like I finally had a good handle on where each number variant came from and what the main mutations were (e.g. which ones had the E484K/Q mutations), and now I have to start over, lol. https://mobile.twitter.com/mvankerkhove/status/1399388129300205569 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirstenhill Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 34 minutes ago, SusanC said: They only used Greek letters for the "overflow hurricanes," when they ran out of names, right? Maybe they will work something out with the weather service to borrow names for the overflow variants.... I'm imagining variants being named after people like hurricanes: "New COVID-19 variants Ralph and Steve are now spreading..." 😁 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 16 minutes ago, kirstenhill said: I'm imagining variants being named after people like hurricanes: "New COVID-19 variants Ralph and Steve are now spreading..." 😁 Yes, as if the Karens of the world need more to worry about! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 I'm glad! My brain can't remember numbers to save my life. Also, I had to memorize the greek alphabet to the tune of She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain when I was in a sorority in college. Now that is stuck in my head. Ear worm! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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