“Kragon, Gryphon, Centaurus”: Who Named the Types of Covid?

Each time the name of a new or more Variations People are (rightly) concerned about ex-Covid-19 and wonder why certain names are given, especially when it’s not a question of actual mutations of the virus, but rather small adaptations that enable herd immunity, vaccines, and continued survival. Soon. Before they were all called in the strict Greek alphabet, now they have very different and strange names, such as Centaurus, Gryphon to Kraken: the WHO behind this hidden direction (identifying by letters and numbers) is no longer there. Man: Professor. Ryan GregoryProfessor of Biology at the University of Guelph, Ontario (Canada).

“I don’t want to cause panic”

Although it often has the opposite effect, its purpose is to “Help people distinguish the most important differences, don’t panic”, said in an interview to Republic. The 47-year-old Canadian biologist is now famous all over the world: despite his statements, for example, the name Kraken Derived from a legendary sea monster of enormous dimensions. By then, it’s clear that many people have concerns unleashed, but he ignores it and goes on his way explaining the WHO.Use Greek letters to identify variations of concern, alpha, delta, omicron, or technical name. It worked fine until a few months ago, but now there are hundreds of variants of Omicron, and everything has become a mess.”.

Where did the idea come from?

Actually, Prof. When a user called out, Gregory “stole” the idea to use these terms for Omicron subcategories on Net. Centaurus BA.2.75 Mutation. “I realized that was the direction to go“: So, if initially it wants to conform to the Greek names used in recent years, the product does not work well because the analogies with the letters of the alphabet are too many.”The Kraken, the most recent, comes not from Greek mythology, but from popular culture“, he points out.

Even experts now tell us that as long as the strain is always the same, i.e. Omicron, there is nothing to worry about, but the professor knows there are about 650 varieties.It is important to distinguish them in order to understand which is more interesting“. That’s why the kraken was born, and when asked precisely if it can spread panic, the biologist affirms”Lack of information creates fear. The names used are not all monsters used to scare, but serve to distinguish the most important variants. It gets attention, but I don’t see any doomsday discussions on social media or anywhere else. In general, we talk in a balance about what the various variations mean and what their need is“.

Pandemic situation in the world

Now, if most of the world is living well with ex-Covid-19, the biggest problem is China, which after two years of adopting a “Zero-Covid” policy, is now battling a catastrophic situation. Given the sudden lifting of restrictions. The good news is that the virus is still intact and there will be no negative consequences for the western world. The professor distinctly admits that the most dangerous variations are now behind us and bear all the names of the Greek letters. “Omicron is more infectious, delta is more severe, but Omicron causes more hospitalizations and deaths because it spreads more. There are millions of cases in China, for the reasons we mentioned, so there is a risk of mutations. There are also rearrangements such as deltacron, a combination of delta and omicron”.

However, the immunity situation is completely different than it was one, two and three years ago. “There are boosters, defenses built up by previous infections, and therefore less severe situations. No big peaks, but a steady state: instead of waves, high tide. It’s important for people to know to avoid panic, which I obviously don’t see“, he concludes.