The World Health Organization has said it will rename COVID-19 variants to avoid stigmatization of countries where new strains of the virus are first reported.

The new system applies to variant of concerns – the most troubling of which four are in circulation.

“While they have their advantages, these scientific names can be difficult to say and recall, and are prone to misreporting,” the WHO says in a statement.

The new names:

The four coronavirus variants considered of concern by the United Nations agency and known generally by the public as the UK, South Africa, Brazil and India

Under a new system revealed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Kent variant will now be known as Alpha, the Indian variant as Delta, and the South African variant as Beta.

Their scientific names – B.1.1.7, B.1.617.2 and B.1.351 – had been considered too complicated to remember, but there were also concerns about referring to them by the locations where they were discovered.

Critics have warned the current format can stigmatise countries where variants are first found.

Some have warned the rise in coverage of the so-called Indian variant as it becomes more widespread could fuel racism against Indian people.

In 2020, due to the fact that COVID-19 originated in China, experts say it led to an increase in hate crimes against Asian people.

Former US president Donald Trump was condemned for regularly referring to coronavirus as the “China virus”, among other such labels.