The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday announced a new process of labelling Covid-19 variants to make it easier to say and to not stigmatize countries from where they were originally detected.
Over the past few months, we have heard journalists refer to the so-called "South African variant" and recently the British and Indian variant of SARS-COV-2 that causes Covid-19.
WHO says after wide consultation they have decided to now use the Greek alphabet
These labels were chosen after wide consultation and a review of many potential naming systems.
WHO says while scientific names have their advantages, they can be difficult to say and recall and are prone to misreporting.
The WHO wants to simplify public communication and urged media outlets and national authorities to adopt the new naming system.
Under the new system, the variants of concern take on the following names:
The British variant B.1.1.7 becomes Alpha.
The B.1.351 first discovered in South Africa becomes Beta.
The Brazilian P.1 becomes Gamma.
The Indian B.1.617.2 becomes Delta.
