News (1) to (5) / Report by : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA
Image : SARS-CoV-2 originates from Wuhan, China, hence WIV04 as the label.
News (1)
Sequencing the names by WHO from linguistic perspective, why COVID-19 should be renamed as covid
Since the epidemic broke out in Wuhan, the World Health Organization (WHO) has come up with names and labels that block anyone from knowing the virus and disease comes from CCP China.
The Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, derives "COVID-19" from "covi", "disease" and "-19" from the year 2019 when covid, short for coronavirus disease, is first identified. StayGate is the first online medium to name the disease as "covid" as most other diseases are not capitalized such as influenza, cancer and diabetes. The suffix "-19" is omitted as it is not linguistically correct since nobody is sure exactly when SARS-CoV-2, which causes the covid epidemic, first appears.
In StayGate's translation and news reports, "covi" is short for coronavirus, new coronavirus and novel coronavirus and synonym for the official virus name SARS-CoV-2.
News (2)
Most of these WHO labels in Greek for variant strains are misleading
Most Greek labels of WHO for covi variant strains are misleading while a WHO label for a covi variant insults a commercial organization. In this report, StayGate looks at the labels from the linguistic perspective and advises whether these names should be followed.
WHO has called on the world including the media and citizens to call the SARS-CoV-2 variant strains B.1.1.7, B.1.35.1, B.1.617 and B.1.617.2 as "Alpha", "Beta", "Kappa" and "Delta" respectively instead of addressing and typing them as "British variant", "South African variant" and "Indian variant".
News (3)
What is wrong with most of these WHO labels?
1. Alpha in Greek means the beginning but B.1.1.7 is not the first covi variant as SARS-CoV-2 has mutated too many times in 2020 before a variant is detected in Kent, UK.
The first covi variant ever known is SARS-CoV-2 WIV04, which is named by Shi Zhengli's team of the Wuhan Institute of Viology. SARS-CoV-2 is named after this strain. The relevant information can be found in the virology team's thesis on RaTG15, another bat coronavirus which they claim they detected in Mojiang, Yunnan.
To name B.1.1.7 as Alpha is deemed offensive to Christianity as Jesus Christ is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end (the Book of Revelations).
2. Beta, the second letter of the Greek alphabet ( Β, β ), transliterated as ‘b’, denotes the second of a series of items, categories, forms of a chemical compound, etc. The label for B.1.35.1, Beta, suggests that the covi variant is second in a series of variant strains but definitely the strain is not the second known by the public. Iceland has detected more than 40 covi variant strains alone in 2020 after the country is hit by covid that year.
Beta means a second-class mark given for a piece of work or examination paper in English. Labeling B.1.35.1 as Beta suggests it is a second-class virus. It does not make sense as the virus does not distinguish anyone. There should be no caste or distinction in virus strain naming.
3. The label for B.1.617, Kappa,is the tenth Greek alphabet. In Astronomy, it is the tenth star in the constellation, hence Kappa Orionis. In Biochemistry, it denotes one of the two types of light polypeptide chain present in all immunoglobulin molecules. However, Kappa is not the tenth covi variant known in virology.
4. Gamma, label for P.1, is the third Greek alphabet but it is also short for gamma rays and gamma detector. Be specific what is being reported.
5. Delta, for B.1.617.2, is the fourth Greek alphabet. If someone calls Delta for virus, he insults Delta Airlines. People with no knowledge of the covi variant origin will misunderstand that the airline first spread B.1.617.2.
6. Epsilon, the fifth Greek alphabet and the WHO label for B.1.427/B.1.429 (US variants), denotes an error which will be taken to zero in some limit but does the virus strain disappear? Has it disappeared? The label insults one's intelligence quotience.
7. Zeta, for P.2., is the sixth Greek alphabet and it refers to the sixth star in the constellation. People may misunderstand that Zeta the virus comes from outer space but it is not. P.2. is the second variant strain detected in Brazil.
8. Eta, the label for B.1.525, is the seventh Greek alphabet. It is short for Estimated Time of Arrival in English.
9. Theta, the label for P.3, the virus strain first detected in the Philippines, is the eighth Greek alphabet. It refers to the theta rhythm or theta wave. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, it is "a relatively high amplitude brain wave pattern between approximately four and nine hertz that is characteristic especially of the hippocampus".
Call P.3 theta covi if you like or simply P.3 if you know it.
10. Iota, the ninth Greek alphabet, means an infinitesimal amount in English as in "an iota of interest" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Only this is a fitting label for B.1.526, first detected in the U.S.
News (4)
Alternative labeling for covi variants
Many readers find it difficult to remember the Greek labels for covi variants and prefer to name them after the first places of their identities but the relevant governments have opposed these names on reason of stigma and racial discrimination. For instance, the CCP government opposes people for calling SARS-CoV-2 as "Wuhan virus" while India wants social media to remove "Indian variant" from reports on B.1.617.2. In fact, there are more than two variants of B.1.617. Addressing them as "Indian variant" is not specific.
Therefore, StayGate suggests the following labels to help readers remember and identify the known variant strains without offending any country and anyone.
For instance, instead of calling B.1.1.7 as Alpha, simply label it as Covi17. If there is no known scientific label for a variant strain such as the one reported by Vietnam media VnExpress, label it after the date of report as Covi29 since it is reported in the press on 29 May 2021.
As of 3 June 2021, the Vietnam authorities have not yet notified WHO the new scientific name of the covi hybrid variant detected in Vietnam.
Below is the list of alternative labels for known variant strains that the media can consider addressing in their reports:-
Alternative/ New Label WHO Label Virology (as known in public) First detected in
Covi17 Alpha SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 or B.1.1.7 Kent, UK
Covi51 Beta B.1.351 South Africa
Covip1 Gamma P.1 Brazil
Covi72 Delta B.1.617.2 India
Covi79 Epsilon B.1.427/B.1.429 US
Covip2 Zeta P.2 Brazil
Covi25 Eta B.1.525 Nigeria
Covip3 Theta P.3 Philippines
Covi26 Iota B.1.526 US
Covi71 Kappa B.1.617.1 India
Covi29 Omicron B.1.1.529 Botswana, South Africa
Covi60 - B.1.160 France
Covi70 - B.1.470 Indonesia
Covi172 - - Kobe, Japan
WIV04 SARS-CoV-2 SARS-CoV-2 WIV04 Wuhan, China
Covi4G - D614G Wuhan, China
Covi1B - A701B Sabah, Malaysia
Covi05 - Cluster 5 Denmark
Covi41 - B.1.324.1 with E484K Antigua
Covi73 - B.1.617.3 India
Refs: www.merriam-webster.com, https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2021/02/665398/two-new-covid-19-variants-emerge-sarawak, https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysia-israel-identify-new-coronavirus-strains, https://staygate.blogspot.com/2020/03/iceland-scientists-have-discovered-40.html, https://www.who.int/csr/don/31-december-2020-sars-cov2-variants/en/, https://staygate.blogspot.com/2021/05/vietnam-develops-covi-vaccine-and-covi.html?q=Vietnam, https://staygate.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-notorious-covi-variants-of-2021.html, https://staygate.blogspot.com/2021/05/wiv-ratg15-and-seven-other.html, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-70827-z.pdf
News (5)
WHO: No new covi variant from Vietnam yet
As of 3 June 2021, the Vietnam authorities have not yet notified WHO the new scientific name of the covi hybrid variant detected in Vietnam by the country's Ministry of Health.
According to Vietnam online newspaper, VnExpress, Kidong Park, the WHO representative in Vietnam, told Japanese media Nikkei Asia on Wednesday, "There is no new hybrid variant in Vietnam at this moment based on WHO definition."
Park said, "The variant detected is Delta (Covi72, for B.1.167.2) , with additional mutations, and needs more observation. We need to monitor during next couple of weeks."
This may be the reason why Vietnam has reversed its decision on banning international flights to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, one day after 30 May 2021 when it decided to ban international flights to stop the spread of Covi17 and Covi72 (for B.1.617.2).
There are seven covi variants in Vietnam, including Covi17, Covi72 and Covi51.
Covi17 and Covi72 are responsible for the most recent covid outbreaks in Vietnam due to their higher transmissability than other strains.
Vietnam has a cumulative number of 4877 covid cases in 37 cities and provinces. Bac Giang leads the number of covi infections at 2,620 followed by Bac Ninh at 941.
Ref: https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/no-new-coronavirus-variant-in-vietnam-yet-who-4288551.html
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