The Ministry Of Health Will Follow WHO On Naming Variants Of COVID-19 Using The Greek Alphabet

ILLUSTRATION/UNSPLASH

JAKARTA - The World Health Organization (WHO) has decided to name the current variant of the coronavirus, using the Greek alphabet.

Director of Prevention and Control of Vector and Zoonotic Diseases of the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said the government would follow WHO's steps to change the name of the coronavirus mutation.

"It will definitely follow WHO because this is by global standards", said Nadia when confirmed by VOI, Friday, June 4.

To date, 54 cases of COVID-19 mutations have been recorded in Indonesia, starting from B117 from the UK, B1617 from India, and B1351 from South Africa.

Of the 54 cases of the new variant of COVID-19 found, 35 of them were case variants originating from migrants from outside Indonesia. Then, there were 19 cases originating from transmission in Indonesia.

Previously, WHO decided to change the name of the COVID-19 variant with several goals to be achieved. In addition to simplifying discussion and pronunciation, this name change is to avoid certain stigma against certain countries that are associated with variants of the coronavirus.

This change is also in line with criticism of scientists for giving complicated and multiple names to variants of the coronavirus. For example, the South African variants which have multiple names, such as B.1.351, 501Y.V2, and 20H/501Y.V2 are too complex.

Launching Reuters on Tuesday, June 1, in its announcement last Monday, WHO named the variants of the UK, South Africa, Brazil, and India as Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta according to the order. Another interesting variant continues down the alphabet.

"While they have their merits, these scientific names can be difficult to pronounce and remember and are prone to misreporting", the WHO said, explaining the decision.

The choice of the Greek Alphabet comes after months of deliberation, during which other possibilities such as Greek Gods and invented, pseudo-classical names were considered by experts, according to bacteriologist Mark Pallen involved in the talks. But many have become foreign brands, companies, or names.

Another idea to refer to the variants of concern as VOC1, VOC2 and others, was dropped after showing that the pronunciation resembles a swear word in English.