According to the Greek alphabet, the World Health Organization was expected to name the latest Covid-19 variant “Nu” or “Xi.” But both names were seen as problematic.

But the Greek alphabet also has letters that look familiar but sound different — P makes an R sound. Then there are letters that are unrecognizable, such as psi — shaped like a little pitchfork.

The World Health Organization skipped a couple of letters in the Greek alphabet when it named the omicron variant. That fueled all sorts of speculation and claims on social media about why the ...

After a new variant with the unwieldy scientific name of B.1.1.529 was discovered last week in South Africa, observers might have expected WHO to name it after the next Greek letter on the list: Nu.