Why WHO skipped two Greek alphabets Nu and Xi while naming the new COVID-19 variant Omicron?
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WHO on Friday named the new COVID-19 variant as B.1.1.529 -'Omicron', Jumping two Greek alphabets. WHO raised concern over 'Omicron' as it is a highly mutating variant. WHO official, On Saturday, told a media house that the naming was done "to avoid stigmatising a region." As per the WHO, 'Nu' can be easily misunderstood with 'new' and 'Xi' was avoided because it is a common surname.