Names

 Apparently, names matter.  Boris Johnson is really called Alexander, which is far too serious a handle for the PM. Frances Ethel Gumm wasn’t allowed to sing Over the Rainbow until she changed her name. Amazon only got its name because Cadabara kept being changed on spellcheck to Cadaver. 

This is how we are suddenly at Coronavirus variant Omicron. 

Omicron sounds like an evil robot overlord sent to destroy the Earth. The very name strikes terror into the hearts and minds of anyone who has ever watched an episode of Dr Who.  

As we watched the News the Long Suffering Husband questioned the name.

“Omicron? What happened to all the others? We started with alpha, went to beta, gamma and delta but how can we suddenly be at omicron?”

I thought he had a point but was quick to explain that they have variants of interest (VOI) that they name and only tell us about the variants of concern (VOC), especially now that we are all ‘over it’. When they decided to stop giving us the number and went to the Greek alphabet it made sense. The numbers were confusing anyway. Alpha was B.1.1.7, Beta  B.1.351, Gamma P.1 and Delta B.1.617.2. And with that logic you can see why they chose a simplified classification system for the public, after a brief but disastrous flirtation with naming it after the country it was first discovered. Racism, jingoism and viruses are not a good mix.

As viruses mutate all the time there will be as many mutations as there are cases because every human body has an impact. Every body gives the virus a chance to grow and develop so that it can live in harmony with its hosts. It’s sole aim is to get to a stage where it can not kill or terrify too many. We have never been able to study this process in as much detail before. It’s a fascinating time for science but a confusing one for most people. 

This current VOC B.1.1.529 was first identified in South Africa and Botswana three days ago and has panicked the scientists. It is the fourth VOC and they think it could change the course of the infections as much as the Delta variant. They are also concerned because it is different enough to get around the vaccine. It hasn’t yet spread enough to be a sure fire problem but keeping it in one place will help to stop that happening. Luckily, some learning has taken place.

So, what happened to all the other letters of the Greek alphabet?

Epsilon - B.1.427 & B.1.429 discovered in USA - No longer detected

Zeta - P.2 discovered in Brazil - No longer detected

Eta - B.1.524 discovered in Nigeria - No longer detected

Theta - P.3 discovered in the Philippines - No longer detected

Iota - B.1.526 discovered in the USA - no longer detected

Kappa - B.1.617.1 discovered in India - no longer detected

Lambda - C.37 discovered in Peru - still a VOI but seemed to have a random and not easy pattern of spread

Mu -  B.1.621 - discovered in Columbia - still a VOI but seems to have a random and not easy pattern of spread.

Nu - B.1.1.529 discovered in South Africa.

Wait! Isn’t that the same number as omicron? Yes, of course it is. Names matter. 

You can imagine the conversations.

You can’t call it the Nu variant. That’s too confusing. 

Which new variant? 

The Nu variant. 

I know it’s the new variant but there’s been so many I want to know what it’s called.

 Nu. 

Oh for gods sake!

So, the scientists at WHO scratched their heads and discussed it.

We’ll have to skip the Nu variant as the new variant. 

What’s next?  

Xi! 

How do you say that? 

No one really knows. 

K-igh? 

Zgh-igh? 

Shy? Shee? 

Ghee? 

We can’t have that, it’s too confusing and it sounds too Chinese. 

We will be back to square one. 

What’s next? 

Omicron. 

Perfect. 

Sounds like a scary robot. 

Do you think it will make people wash their hands, wear a mask and restrict their travel? 

BBC headline- Killer Robots are closer than you think: How scared should you be?