WHO avoided calling new Covid variant Xi to avoid ‘stigmatising a region’
Omicron was not the first choice for the new Covid variant, or even the second. Speculation is rife the WHO chose the name to avoid annoying China.
The World Health Organisation’s decision to bypass two Greek alphabet letters to land on Omicron as the name for the latest Covid-19 variant has sparked suggestions it was a deliberate move to avoid annoying China.
Following the discovery of a new variant earlier this week, the internet quickly presumed its name would be “Nu”, given it came next after Delta in the Greek alphabet. Nu quickly began to trend on social media.
Confusion then reigned when the variant wasn’t called Nu, nor the following letter, “Xi”.
Why wasn’t Xi used? Well as well as being a letter of the Greek alphabet it also happens to be the surname of Chinese president, Xi Jinping.
It has been suggested the name Xi was avoided to prevent angering Mr Jinping.
The WHO, perhaps diplomatically, has said Xi wasn’t used due to concerns it would “stigmatise a region”.
The WHO skipped past both letters in favour of “Omicron”, a decision that a source from the organisation later confirmed was purposely made to avoid confusion.
“Nu had been skipped to avoid confusion with the word new and Xi had been skipped to avoid stigmatising a region,” the source said, according to The Telegraph in the UK.
The explanation later drew criticism from US Republican figures, including Senator Ted Cruz who took to Twitter to say the name change was all about Beijing.
“If the WHO is this scared of the Chinese Communist Party, how can they be trusted to call them out the next time they’re trying to cover up a catastrophic global pandemic?” his post read.
The son of former US president Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr, responded to a tweet containing the WHO’s explanation with a rather crude comment.
“As far as I’m concerned the original will always be the Xi variant,” he wrote.
As far as I’m concerned the original will always be the Xi variant. https://t.co/tm8EWcmq3A
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) November 27, 2021
China has also been accused of “aggressively” influencing the WHO’s investigation into Covid-19, so much so that early opportunities to kerb the global outbreak were missed.
News of new Nu variant, but WHO is jumping the alphabet to call it Omicron, so they can avoid Xi. pic.twitter.com/UJ4xMwg52i
— Martin Kulldorff (@MartinKulldorff) November 26, 2021
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While there has yet to be cases of Omicron in Australia, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said on Sunday it was possible the new variant had already infiltrated the community.
His federal counterpart Greg Hunt said he would be meeting daily with chief health officer Professor Paul Kelly to “examine the nature of the variant”.
“We won’t hesitate if more is needed to take those steps. and to continue to protect Australians,” he told reporters.
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