A matter of relief: Now only one variant of Corona is a cause for concern, know what WHO said
There is good news about the danger of variants of corona virus found in India. The World Health Organization said on Thursday that only one strain of the first COVID-19 variant found in India, which has been named ‘Delta’ variant, is now a matter of concern, while the risk of the other two strains has reduced. This variant of Corona is known as B.1.617 and due to this, so much devastation was seen in the second wave of Corona in India. It is a triple mutant variant as it is in three species (lineage).
Last month, the World Health Organization had described the entire strain of this variant of Corona as a ‘variant of concern’, after which the Indian government had lodged its objection. But on Tuesday, the United Nations Health Agency said that only a sub-lineage of it is now a matter of concern. That is, out of three strains of the B.1.617 variant, only one strain is a matter of concern. The WHO said that the B.1.617.2 variant now remains a large-scale public health threat, while the spread of infection with the second strain has decreased.
Indeed, the B.1.617.2 variant of the corona still remains a matter of concern, along with three other variants of the virus that are considered more dangerous than the original version, as they are more infectious and lethal. Let us tell you that earlier Sangat had said that the forms B.1.617.1 and B.1.617.2 found for the first time in India of corona virus will henceforth be known as ‘Kappa’ and ‘Delta’ respectively. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced a new system of nomenclature of the different forms of the corona virus, under which the different forms of the virus will be identified through the letters of the Greek language. The decision was taken to simplify public discourse on the virus and to wash away the stigma on names.
In fact, three weeks ago, the WHO has taken this step in the backdrop of India objecting to the B.1.617 form of Novel Corona virus being described in media reports as ‘Indian nature’. However, India’s Union Health Ministry had said that the UN’s apex health agency has not used the word ‘Indian’ for the said form in its document.
In this sequence, the United Nations Health Agency has named the B.1.617.1 for COVID-19 as ‘Kappa’ and the B1.617.2 form as ‘Delta’. Both these forms of the virus first appeared in India. Announcing the new system of nomenclature, the United Nations Health Agency said the new system is to give forms “simple, easy to speak and remember.” He said that to name the countries where the form of the virus first appeared, it is to stigmatize and favoritism.
Such a pattern, which first appeared in Britain and is now known as B.1.1.7, will henceforth be referred to as the ‘alpha’ form. The B.1.351 form of the virus, also known as the South African form, will be known as the ‘beta’ form. The P.1 form found in Brazil will be known as ‘Gamma’ and the P.2 form ‘Zeta’. The forms of the virus found in America will be known as ‘epsilon’ and ‘lota’. The following worrying forms will be named in this order.
WHO said that this new system is the result of groups of experts. It said the scientific nomenclature system would not be abolished and that the new system was to give “simpler, easier to speak and remember names of forms”. Earlier, on 12 May, India’s Ministry of Health dismissed as “baseless” media reports that referred to the B.1.617 variant as the ‘Indian variant’. It is noteworthy that this pattern was recently described by the WHO as a form of ‘global concern’.
