Fact check: Post misleads on origin of delta variant name
Skip to main content The claim: The “delta” in delta variant means “deep sleep”The delta coronavirus variant has caused a sharp spike in cases around the country, according to public health officials..But some people online say there’s something even more sinister about the delta variant: its name. “You’re under a spell,” reads text in a July 31 post on Facebook, which has more than 1,400 shares. “Delta variant. Delta = Deep sleep.”The text is overlaid on a photo that depicts a man sleepwalking, with faded images of Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in the background. Since the start of the pandemic, misinformation about both men has spread widely online, including false claims that they’re microchipping vaccines and planning or engineering the pandemic.”You have to be asleep to believe it…” the post’s caption says.Fact check: Genomic sequencing, not PCR testing, detects COVID-19 variantsWhile the delta variant does share a name with a brain wave that is associated with sleep, there is no deeper meaning. The coronavirus variants are named after letters in the Greek alphabet. USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment.COVID-19 variants, delta waves named using Greek alphabetThe term “delta” doesn’t mean
