The World Health Organization has not used the term “Indian variant” for the double mutant or the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus, the government has clarified.
The use of the term “Indian variant” for the strain B.1.617 has no basis, the WHO did not do this, says the Ministry of Health PTI-Bild
The Indian government criticized the use of the term “Indian variant” for the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus in media reports on Wednesday. The government made it clear that the World Health Organization (WHO) never used the word “Indian” for the variant.
“Several media reports have reported the news that the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified B.1.617 as a variant of global concern. Some of these reports have referred to the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus as the” Indian variant “. These media reports are baseless and unfounded, “reads the statement by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The declaration made it clear that the WHO did not associate the term “Indian variant” with the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus in its context 32-page document released Tuesday. “In fact, the word ‘Indian’ was not used in his report on the subject,” it said.
The WHO also issued a clarification that it does not link variants to the names of the countries from which they were first reported.
“WHO does not identify viruses or variants by names of countries they were first reported from. We refer to them by their scientific names and urge everyone to do the same to ensure consistency,” the tweet read the global health organization.
WHO does not identify viruses or variants with names of countries from which they were first reported. We refer to them by their scientific names and urge everyone to do the same for consistency. @PTI_News @PIB_India @YEARS @Times of India @htTweets @ IndianExpress @the Hindu @ MoHFW_INDIA
– WHO Southeast Asia (@WHOSEARO) May 12, 2021
In a report released Tuesday, the WHO announced that the B.1.617 variant of SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes Covid-19 disease – was first found in India in October 2020. The report said it “increased portability” and was found in 44 countries.
“As such, we classify this as a worrying variant on a global scale,” she said. So far the WHO has listed it as a “variant of interest”.
The list of affected variants already includes the virus mutations that were first reported from Great Britain, Brazil and South Africa.
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