The Belgian death metal band Omicron will retain its name, which is the same name given by the World Health Organization to the newly discovered variant of COVID-19.
The group spoke to Vice about the possibility of changing their name after the new discovery. “Are we planning to change our name? Of course not. We won’t let a virus determine how our concept is perceived,” the band said, adding that no one could have predicted this would happen and that they hope people understand.
“Having the same name as the new coronavirus variant seems like an extra responsibility we have to bear. We will still be cautious because we don’t want the world to think we are prospering on the suffering of others.”
In a Facebook post last month, the musicians explained that the name was inspired by the Omicron galaxy system. In the Greek alphabet, Omicron symbolizes the fifteenth letter and has a numerical value of 70, and can also be translated as "faster".
The band Omicron's first single, "Revelations Of Man," was released in June of this year. Listen below.
The new Omicron variant
was first identified in Botswana, in southern Africa, on November 25th. The WHO discovered that the variant has high transmissibility and has already been detected in at least 50 countries. In Brazil, as of the time of this article, six cases have been registered.
