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We already number them... with vectors. Delta is really B.1.617.2. The Greek names are a convenience for talking to a broader lay audience.

by argomo 5y ago

Scoundreller 5y ago
> The Greek names are a convenience for talking to a broader lay audience. For some reason, for this virus, we moved away from naming the variants after the city it was first detected in. Most people can picture Hong Kong or California better than the Greek alphabet. Flu names: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza_A_virus_subtype_H3N2#Flu_spread,_by_season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza_A_virus_subtype_H3N2...
- thaumasiotes 5y ago
  > For some reason, for this virus, we moved away from naming the variants after the city it was first detected in. Based on your link, it's very unusual to name them after cities. Cities mentioned: Brisbane Perth States / provinces / territories: Hong Kong Fujian New Caledonia Shanghai California New York Jiangsu Wisconsin Hiroshima Ohio Florida Yamagata Massachusetts Texas Phuket South Australia Victoria Countries: Malaysia Solomon Islands Switzerland How do you look at that list and think "it's usually the city"? It's the city in two out of four strains named for a location in Australia, and zero elsewhere. (The names Hong Kong, Shanghai, New York, Hiroshima, Yamagata and Phuket are ambiguous between a province and a city within that province. But the ambiguity is easily resolved by comparison to Fujian, Jiangsu, California, Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, Massachusetts, and Texas.)
  - Scoundreller 5y ago
    I should have said geography and not cities, but point being it’s easier to work with geography terms than Greek letters (in sequence!) at an international level. Though you run the risk of people using different names in their language for the same place, and not even being consistent about when they substitute local terms.
    - thaumasiotes 5y ago
      > Though you run the risk of people using different names in their language for the same place, and not even being consistent about when they substitute local terms. I'd be amused if the Chinese literature translated delta as 丁 (fourth in a sequence of 10).

We already number them... with vectors. Delta is really B.1.617.2. The Greek names are a convenience for talking to a broader lay audience.

by argomo 5y ago

We already number them... with vectors. Delta is really B.1.617.2. The Greek names are a convenience for talking to a broader lay audience.

Scoundreller 5y ago

> The Greek names are a convenience for talking to a broader lay audience. For some reason, for this virus, we moved away from naming the variants after the city it was first detected in. Most people can picture Hong Kong or California better than the Greek alphabet. Flu names: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza_A_virus_subtype_H3N2#Flu_spread,_by_season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza_A_virus_subtype_H3N2...

thaumasiotes 5y ago
> For some reason, for this virus, we moved away from naming the variants after the city it was first detected in. Based on your link, it's very unusual to name them after cities. Cities mentioned: Brisbane Perth States / provinces / territories: Hong Kong Fujian New Caledonia Shanghai California New York Jiangsu Wisconsin Hiroshima Ohio Florida Yamagata Massachusetts Texas Phuket South Australia Victoria Countries: Malaysia Solomon Islands Switzerland How do you look at that list and think "it's usually the city"? It's the city in two out of four strains named for a location in Australia, and zero elsewhere. (The names Hong Kong, Shanghai, New York, Hiroshima, Yamagata and Phuket are ambiguous between a province and a city within that province. But the ambiguity is easily resolved by comparison to Fujian, Jiangsu, California, Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, Massachusetts, and Texas.)
- Scoundreller 5y ago
  I should have said geography and not cities, but point being it’s easier to work with geography terms than Greek letters (in sequence!) at an international level. Though you run the risk of people using different names in their language for the same place, and not even being consistent about when they substitute local terms.
  - thaumasiotes 5y ago
    > Though you run the risk of people using different names in their language for the same place, and not even being consistent about when they substitute local terms. I'd be amused if the Chinese literature translated delta as 丁 (fourth in a sequence of 10).