Why the WHO skipped 'Nu' and 'Xi' to name latest coronavirus variant


Source: asianewsday.com asianewsday.com

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Going by the Greek alphabet, the next names should have been “Nu” and “Xi” but the WHO skipped them and went on to call the latest coronavirus variant “Omicron”. But why? Was it to avoid similarities with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s name? Before the World Health Organisation named Omicron as a variant “of concern” on Friday (Nov 26), the last identified variant was the Mu variant, named after the 12th out of 24 letters in the Greek alphabet. Nu and Xi, the 13th and 14th letters, were next in line. But in a statement to Associated Press on Saturday, the...