When the founder of the energy company Omicron named his company back in 1984, Rainer Aberer never thought one day his company might share a name with a variant of a virus that has led to a global pandemic.
When the WHO order skipped Mu and Xi in the Greek alphabet and skipped to Omicron, the company took notice and assured the world that it’s just an unfortunate circumstance.
“Most probably you will have heard that the World Health Organization (WHO) decided to name COVID-variants according to the letters of the Greek alphabet. For additional information, please visit WHO,” Omicron said in a statement. “It is an unfortunate coincidence that the newest variant of the COVID-19 virus is called “Omicron”. Our company has been carrying its name for almost 40 years. Back in 1984, Rainer Aberer decided to name his newly founded company after one of the letters of the Greek alphabet. OMICRON stands for the “o”, the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet. Rainer’s thinking was that Greek letters were used all over the world in mathematics and convey a strong technical connotation.”
Today OMICRON is well-known in the electrical energy industry as a supplier of high-quality testing and diagnostic solutions for electrical assets.
“There is nothing we can do about this hopefully short-lived connotation but to stay focused on our mission and to continue to serve our customers well. We would like to take this opportunity to express our compassion to everybody affected by this virus,” the company said.