Is geo-tagging of coronavirus, its mutants not appropriate? 

When the coronavirus was jumping borders, World Health Organization (WHO) was focussed on naming the virus. The world was calling it Wuhan virus on the place it originated from but the WHO disagreed. They said country and culture names cannot be linked to a virus. And they insisted on an anodyne name, sars-cov-2.

Anyone who linked the virus to China or Wuhanwas called racist and now, we are living in the wave of mutants as they have been reported all over the world. The world is calling them British mutant, the South African variant, the Brazil variant, the Indian double mutant, etc.

All of these variants have been geo-tagged. Does anybody say B.1.1.7? That's what everyone calls the UK variant, same for Brazil as no one is calling it the P.1. The World Health Organization has not condemned it or given a clarification.

The WHO allegedly helped China cover up the biggest health crisis of our times. They first criticised travel curbs on China, then praised Beijing's pandemic control, and then scolded world leaders for calling it the China virus.

WHO may act differently if China has a variant, but the country will never admit till the situation explodes. Unlike China, some other countries have been transparent. They have reported variants, kept the world in the loop so that others can prepare themselves. Even Brazil where the president himself is peddling conspiracies did not deny the existence of P1 variant.

The UK variant was among the first to emerge and some British newspapers called it the Kent variant but there weren't cries of racism or bigotry. British diplomats were not up at night, shooting out tweets. The same in India as the government has admitted the presence of mutations and double mutations. Some countries have even banned travel to India, but there is no sign of the WHO. Last year, the travel bans were racist and this year, they are precautionary.

Western media houses lapped up this controversy as they were more than happy to cancel leaders, who called it the Wuhan virus. A CNN headline in March 18, 2020 read ‘Trump's malicious use of Chinese virus’. The article called it xenophobic racism and now in March 31, 2021, it says experts predicted the UK variant would become dominant in the US. This, obviously, is not xenophobic racism.

WHO's eagerness to defend China last year was evident. Now, the enthusiasm has vanished. In January, the WHO met to decide on how to name variants. Three months later, the issue is on the backburner because China's name doesn't figure anywhere. This is hypocrisy of the highest order.

Geo-tagging is almost everywhere. There are African elephant, the Great Indian Bustard, the Royal Bengal Tiger, etc. These animals are also named after places. It is neither a tribute, nor an abuse.