New strains of coronavirus may receive constellation names
In the future, new strains of coronavirus may receive constellation names. This idea is being considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) in case the Greek letters run out, writes the British edition of The Telegraph .
WHO COVID-19 response expert Maria van Kerkhove said that the organization fears that 24 letters of the Greek alphabet will not be enough for coronavirus mutations. And the names of the constellations should be enough to designate them.
There are currently 11 mutations in Greek names, of which four, including delta and beta, are of concern. Maria van Kerkhove noted that in the future, Aries, Gemini, Orion, etc. may be added to their list. Several names have already been rejected, including the names of the Greek gods. Experts fear distortion of their pronunciation. Lawyers scrutinize new options carefully so they don't upset anyone.
Recall that the naming system for new strains of coronavirus was introduced in June this year. The WHO decided that the designations in the form of Greek letters would be easy to remember and relieve discrimination of countries where COVID-19 mutations were found.
