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The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that the B.1.617.1 and B.1.617.2 variants of the COVID-19, first identified in India, have been named as ‘Kappa’ and ‘Delta’ respectively using Greek alphabets.
‘Today, @WHO announces new, easy-to-say labels for #SARSCoV2 Variants of Concern (VOCs) & Interest (VOIs). They will not replace existing scientific names, but are aimed to help in public discussion of VOI/VOC,’ Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical Covid-19 lead, tweeted
Today WHO has announced a new naming system for key #COVID19 variants. The labels are based on the Greek alphabet (i.e. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc), making them simple, easy to say and remember.
? https://t.co/aYCZfspZyb pic.twitter.com/Gxt14fwVqF
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) May 31, 2021
The United Nations health agency named the B.1.617.1 variant of the COVID 19 as ‘Kappa’ while the B1.617.2 variant was dubbed ‘Delta’.
Both the variants were first found in India.
The WHO’s move came nearly three weeks after India objected to the B.1.617 mutant of the novel coronavirus being termed an ‘Indian Variant’ in media reports with the Union health ministry pointing out that the UN’s top health organ has not used the word ‘Indian’ for this strain in its document.
