The WHO has identified four other variants of concern - Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta.
The World Health Organization (WHO), on Friday, said that its advisers recommended that the new COVID-19 variant be designated one of concern, its most serious level, and it has been given the Greek name Omicron.
The latter label is applied if there is evidence that it is more contagious or more virulent or vaccines work less well against it or has a combination of those characteristics, and it is given a Greek name, the WHO's website says.
The WHO has identified four other variants of concern - Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta.
It has named two variants as ones of interest, which is the next level down: Lambda, identified in Peru in December 2020, and Mu, in Colombia in January.
That means they had genetic changes that are predicted or known to affect virus characteristics such as transmissibility, disease severity or the ability to evade vaccines and drugs.
It would also mean it caused significant community transmission or multiple COVID-19 clusters in multiple countries with increasing relative prevalence alongside an increasing number of cases over time and is an emerging risk to public health.
The B.1.1.529 variant, first detected in South Africa, is reportedly more transmissible and has been classified as a "Variant of Concern" by the World Health Organization.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Omicron may spread more quickly than other forms, and preliminary evidence suggested there is an increased risk of reinfection.
Epidemiologists warned travel curbs may be too late to stop Omicron from circulating globally. The new mutations were first discovered in South Africa and have since been detected in Belgium, Botswana, Israel and Hong Kong.
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 "Know how World Health Organization labels COVID-19 variants, give Greek names")
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