In Guangdong, a coastal province in South China, 19 variant cases have been reported. All local transmissions have been linked to the Indian and UK versions, which are spreading quickly due to their heightened transmissibility, according to municipal officials.
With the exception of seven imported cases in Guangdong, Shanghai, Fujian, and Henan, China’s National Health Commission-certified 20 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases across the country in the past 24 hours, all from Guangdong Province. In the southern province, three new asymptomatic instances of locally acquired COVID-19 were also identified, which China does not recognize as confirmed cases.
At a news conference on May 30, Chen Bin, deputy head of the municipal health commission of Guangzhou indicated that recent cases were of the new, fast-spreading Indian form of the virus.
This is the first formal indication from Chinese officials that the Indian variety has been spreading across mainland China. According to China’s state media, recent transmission networks have been traced back to five individuals, most of whom are based in central Guangdong Province.
The New Varients
The letters of the Greek Alphabet are currently being given to variants of the new coronavirus in an effort to ease conversation and pronunciation while avoiding stigma.
Today WHO has announced a new naming system for key #COVID19 variants. The labels are based on the Greek alphabet (i.e. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc), making them simple, easy to say and remember.
👉 https://t.co/aYCZfspZyb pic.twitter.com/Gxt14fwVqF
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) May 31, 2021
The new names were announced by the World Health Organization on Monday, following complaints that previous designations offered by scientists; some complaints alleged that the so-called South African variation (also known as B.1.351, 501Y.V2, and 20H/501Y.V2), was too difficult.
As a result, the four coronavirus variations identified as being of concern by the United Nations (and commonly known as the UK, South Africa, Brazil, and India variations) have been assigned the initials Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta in order of detection.
Today, @WHO announces new, easy-to-say labels for #SARSCoV2 Variants of Concern (VOCs) & Interest (VOIs)
They will not replace existing scientific names, but are aimed to help in public discussion of VOI/VOC
Read more here (will be live soon):
https://t.co/VNvjJn8Xcv#COVID19 pic.twitter.com/L9YOfxmKW7— Maria Van Kerkhove (@mvankerkhove) May 31, 2021
The History of Naming Viruses
Viruses have long been linked to the places where they are assumed to have originated, such as Ebola, which is named after the Congolese river of the same name. However, like with the so-called “Spanish flu” epidemic of 1918 (which had uncertain origins) this can be harmful to the areas and is frequently erroneous.
According to bacteriologist Mark Pallen, who was engaged in the discussions, the Greek Alphabet was chosen after months of deliberation; during this time, experts explored other options such as Greek Gods and fabricated, pseudo-classical names.
However, many of the names were already trademarks, companies, or extraterrestrial names. After he pointed out that it resembled an English swear term, another concept to refer to variants of concern as VOC1, VOC2, and so on was abandoned.
Updating this simplified table for the key properties of the major variants with their new @WHO Greek letter names via @mvankerkhove
There is 1 common feature for all: Vaccines Work pic.twitter.com/uGojKKmzoB— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) May 31, 2021
Some scientists had their own simpler nomenclature for variants before the new WHO method, such as a February report utilizing bird names. However, it was criticized by the mother of a girl named “Robin,” who said that it could endanger birds.
