WHO skipped Greek letter 'Xi' to name new COVID variant Omicron & spare China's leader

World Health Organization's decision to name a new variant of COVID-19 as "Omicron" has sparked a lot of speculation on internet, with some wondering why UN health ncy skipped a few letters in Greek alphabet and went with 15th. WHO, however, did t explain openly why it igred Greek letters Nu and Xi, which follow after Delta. Delta is name of a COVID strain that was discovered in India in December 2020 and quickly spre in many parts of country, eventually reaching Europe and United States, according to a report by news ncy, Sputnik.

Meanwhile, citing unnamed WHO sources, Paul Nuki, Senior Editor of Telegraph, stated on Twitter that organisation skipped said Greek letters to avoid some confusion related to m. "A WHO source confirmed letters Nu and Xi of Greek alphabet h been deliberately avoided.

Nu h been skipped to avoid confusion with word "new" and Xi h been skipped to "avoid stigmatising a region", y said. All pandemics inherently political! [sic]," Nuki wrote on Twitter. However, WHO's decision prompted netizens to post some interesting comments on social media.

Reacting to UN health ncy's decision, one of users wrote, "Makes sense, frankly (though Omnicron sounds like a brand of microwave) but what happens when we run out of alphabet?  Do we get hurricane names like Bill? [sic]." "Avoid stigmatizing a region? Why aren't y worried that Greece feels stigmatized by having all variants named with Greek letters? [sic]," commented ar.

"And for next variant y’ll skip Pi coz that’ll upset all mamaticians! [sic], expressed a third. "Nu and Mu also a common surname in Asia, and Delta airline, so many Gamma/ta in world, but offense, only Xi offense [sic]," re ar comment. 

Here are some comments by users:

About Omicron variant of coronavirus

It should be mentioned here that new coronavirus variant B.1.1.529, named Omicron, has originated in South Africa and it has been classified as a 'variant of concern' by WHO. strain has alarmed scientists and health community because of its complicated genetic sequence. Besides, it is also most potent of SARS-CoV-2 variation found to date. variant's protein spike has more than 50 mutations, including more than 30 on spike protein, making it far more transmissible than Delta version. 

(Im: AP/Unsplash)