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CORONAVIRUS GLOSSARY
1-animal-human interface (noun): any point where animals (domestic and
wild) and humans meet - Animal diseases can potentially pass to humans at
any animal-human interface such as a zoo, farm or animal market.
2-apex means “the tip, point, vertex, summit, climax, peak”. In relation to
COVID-19, apex can be used to refer to the highest number of cases in a state
or country, after which the rate of infection begins to slow. See flatten the curve.
3-asymptomatic (adjective): showing no symptoms of a particular disease
- She had no idea her husband had coronavirus because he was asymptomatic.
4-carrier (noun): a person or animal that transmits a disease to others, whether
suffering from it themselves or not - People who are asymptomatic can still be
carriers.
5-carry (verb): be infected with a disease and able to transmit it to others,
whether symptomatic or asymptomatic - Some people may carry coronavirus
without knowing it.
6- clap for the NHS, “clap for our carers”: national applause of thanks for
health workers helping in the fight against coronavirus.
7-community spread (noun): transmission of a disease directly within a
community and not by importation from a foreign source - With this many new
positive cases, the evidence suggests that we now have community
spread right here in our county.
8-contact tracing (noun): identification and monitoring of people who may have
had contact with an infectious person - By insisting on strict contact tracing as
soon as someone was potentially infected, they managed to control the spread
of the disease.
9-contagious (adjective): describing a disease that can pass from person to
person, usually by direct contact; describing a person with such a
disease. See infectious - Patients who are still contagious are kept in isolation.
10-coronavirus (noun): any one of a large family of viruses that can
cause disease in the breathing and eating systems of humans and animals
(respiratory and digestive systems). Coronavirus diseases can range from the
relatively harmless common cold to more severe and potentially fatal diseases
such as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). Seen through a
microscope, coronaviruses appear circular with spikes, like crowns , and are
named from the Latin for crown, which is corona. Coronaviruses normally
originate in animals and usually cannot be passed to humans. But very
occasionally a coronavirus mutates and can then be transmitted from animal to
human, and then from human to human. This is how the SARS epidemic started
in the early 2000s, for example - Did you know that flu is a coronavirus disease?
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11-COVID-19 (noun): official name for the novel coronavirus disease that
emerged in China in 2019. COVID-19 = COronaVIrus Disease-2019 - All
countries are requested to report any new confirmed case of COVID-19 within
48 hours.
12-death toll: the number of people who die because of an event such as
a war , pandemic or an accident. Unemployment surges as coronavirus death
toll rises
13-diagnose (verb): identify an illness by examining the symptoms - Only a
medical professional can properly diagnose the cause of your problem.
14-diagnosis (noun): identification of an illness by examination of
the symptoms - If you're not happy with the doctor's diagnosis you could
always get a second opinion.
15-disease (noun): illness; sickness; a disorder of the body - Polio is one of
several serious diseases that have been nearly eradicated.
16-droplets (noun): the spray produced when people cough or sneeze, and
which can spread diseases like COVID-19 - Health care personnel wear
protective clothing to guard against the disease carried in droplets when
infected people sneeze or cough.
17-drive-through: Denoting a restaurant or other facility in which one can be
served without leaving one's car: The State has stated drive -through (AE -
thru ) testing for Covid-19
18-epidemic (noun): occurrence of a particular disease in a large number of
people in a particular area. See outbreak, pandemic - The city was devastated
by an epidemic of cholera in the 19th century.
19-exponential growth means that the amount of new cases over a given time
period is proportional to the number of cases already present. In our above
example, that proportion is doubling. Such growth can be illustrated using
an exponential curve, represented by the function y=2x, where the
superscript x (called an exponent, the power to which 2 is raised) represents
the number of days that have passed.
20- field hospital is a small mobile medical unit, or mini hospital, that
temporarily takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely
transported to more permanent facilities. This term is used overwhelmingly with
reference to military situations, but may also be used in times of disaster. The
concept was inherited from the battlefield (such as the Mobile Army Surgical
Hospital or MASH) and is now applied in case of disasters or major accidents,
as well as with traditional military medicine.
21-flatten the curve (verb - figurative): change the steep upward curve on a
graph of new disease cases to a flatter, shallower upward curve over a longer
time period through measures such as social distancing - Authorities hope that
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by introducing social distancing they will be able to flatten the curve and avoid
hospitals being rapidly overwhelmed with new cases.
22-furlough is a usually temporary layoff from work. During the coronavirus
outbreak, many workers were furloughed as businesses conducting non-
essential activities were closed. This was done to prevent the spread of the
disease by banning large gatherings as a form of social distancing.
23-A health system, also sometimes referred to as health care system or
as healthcare system, is the organization of people, institutions, and resources
that deliver health care services to meet the health needs of target populations.
24-herd immunity (noun): an indirect protection from a disease resulting from a
large percentage of the population gaining immunity (either through vaccination
or through recovering from the disease) - This virus is unlike the seasonal flu
because there is currently no vaccine or herd immunity, he said.
25 -intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy
unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special
department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensive treatment
medicine. During the Covid-19 outbreaks Intensive care unit was limited to
those likelier to survive.
26-incubation period (noun): the time from a person’s first exposure to
a disease to the time when symptoms develop - When they know
the incubation period they will know how long to keep people in quarantine.
27-infect (verb): affect a human or animal with a disease-causing organism
- But can it infect human beings?
28- infected (adjective/past participle): affected with a disease-causing
organism - They were able to cure the infected left lung before the infection
could spread to the right lung.
29-infection (noun): process of infecting; state of being infected; infectious
disease - Breast milk can help protect babies against various infections.
30-infectious (adjective): describing a disease that can be transmitted through
the environment; describing a human or animal capable of spreading
an infection. See contagious - Avoid the dogs as they may still be infectious.
31-isolate (verb): keep an infected person away from healthy people - They
will isolate anyone suspected of having the disease.
32-isolation (noun): separation of infected people from healthy people for
serious contagious diseases like COVID-19 - Travellers arriving from the
infected area were immediately put in isolation.
33-key workers are people whose jobs are essential or vital to public health
and safety during the coronavirus lockdown. Frontline health and social care
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staff as well as food chain workers,, transport, police staff or armed forces
personnel.
34-level off: to stop increasing or being reduced. If a rate or amount levels off,
it stops rising or falling and stays at the same level. Spain recorded fewer
fatalities( =deaths) in 24 hours, a slight drop that has renewed hope that the
epidemic is levelling off.
35-mask (noun): a piece of fibre or cloth that fits over the nose and mouth to
protect other people from the wearer's germs and/or the wearer from germs in
the air - The World Health Organization recommend that people should not
wear masks unless they may be carrying COVID-19 (to protect other people) or
are caring for anyone suffering from COVID-19 (to protect themselves).
36-mass testing an examination of the characteristics of something on the
whole population. Mass testing, alerts and big fines are the strategies used in
Asia to slow coronavirus.
37-medic(s): medical staff , medical practitioner or student.
38-novel coronavirus (noun): the word novel means “new”, and a newly
identified coronavirus strain is often called a novel coronavirus - Until they gave
it a name, they mostly referred to COVID-19 as novel coronavirus (disease).
39-old people’s home: is a nursing home, multi-residence housing facility
intended for the elderly.
40-outbreak (noun): a sudden occurrence of a disease (or other unpleasant
thing). See epidemic, pandemic - There was another outbreak of the disease in
1993 but the cause was uncertain.
41-pandemic (noun): occurrence of a particular disease throughout a whole
country or the world. See epidemic, outbreak - Just after the First World War
there was a pandemic of flu which killed up to 40 million people worldwide.49-
42-pathogen (noun): a micro-organism or germ such as a bacterium
or virus that can cause disease - Fortunately, most pathogens are dealt with by
the body's immune system.
43-patient zero (noun): the person identified as the first to become infected
with a disease in an outbreak - Authoritites usually try to determine who patient
zero was in any given outbreak as can help answer important questions about
how, when and why it started.
44-PCR test (noun): test that detects viral particles in blood or other body fluids.
(PCR = polymerase chain reaction) - The PCR test is one of the tools that
doctors use to diagnose certain coronavirus diseases.
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45-personal protective equipment (PPE) (noun): special clothing, headgear,
goggles, masks and other garments that shield people from injury or infection.
- Much of the PPE worn by doctors and nurses has to be worn once only and
destroyed after use.
46-person-to-person (adjective): describing the spread of a disease from one
person to another, typically through touch including shaking hands, kissing,
sexual intercourse etc. - In January an infected American woman returning
home from China transmitted the virus to her husband, marking the first known
example of person-to-person spread of the virus in the USA.
47-quarantine (noun): isolation and monitoring of people who seem healthy but
may have been exposed to an infectious disease to see if they
develop symptoms - For centuries it's been common for ships arriving from
infected areas to be kept in quarantine at the docks, originally for 40 days
which is where the term comes from.
48-R0 (“R naught ” /ˈnɔːt/ ),is one of the numbers epidemiologists use to
describe how an infectious agent spreads through a population. The basic idea
is this: the average sick person, in a totally susceptible population, must be able
to get at least one other person sick (R0 = 1) for the disease to spread. If a
disease spreads to fewer than one person, on average, an outbreak can’t
happen.
49-SARS-CoV-2 (noun): Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus 2;
final official name for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. (This virus was
previously known as 2019-nCoV.) - SARS-CoV-2 is the name of the virus and
COVID-19 is the name of the disease.
50-screening (noun): testing of people for the presence of a disease.
For COVID-19 the first step in screening is usually taking a person’s
temperature - They now conduct screening for all incoming passengers.
51-self-isolate (verb): isolate oneself; put oneself in quarantine, away from
other people - The prime minister's wife has tested positive for COVID-19 and
the couple are now self-isolating and working by phone and Skype.
52-social distancing (noun): practice of encouraging people to minimize
contact and closeness, whether by banning large or even small
groups/meetings (football matches, nightclubs), or by maintaining a minimum
distance between people (for example one metre or two metres) - The
government has instructed schools to take social distancing measures to slow
the spread of the virus.
53-stay safe : avoid danger by keeping away from the virus , for example by
washing your hands, using hand sanitizers or staying at home under lockdown
54-stockpiling:the activity od acquiring and storing large quantity of something
Supermarkets ask shoppers to be considerate and stop “stockpiling”
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55- superspreader (noun): person infected with a virus etc who transmits or
spreads it to an unusually large number of people - One so-called
"superspreader" in South Korea infected at least 37 people at her church with
the virus.
56-symptomatic (adjective): showing symptoms of a particular disease
- Anyone who is symptomatic is advised to phone a doctor and get tested.
57-symptoms (noun): a physical or mental feature that indicates
illness/disease - Typical pneumonia-like symptoms of COVID-19 are fever,
coughing, and breathing difficulties .
58-test negative | test positive (verb): if you take a test for an infection and
you test negative, that means you do not have the infection. If you test positive,
that means you have the infection. - The President is pleased to announce that
he has tested negative for the virus.
59-transmission (noun): transfer of a disease from animal to human or from
human to human - Transmission of many diseases can be direct or indirect.
60-transmit (verb) - often passive: cause a disease to pass from animal to
human or from human to human - Many diseases are transmitted through
physical contact.
61-treat (verb): attempt to cure or alleviate an illness or injury through medical
care - Doctors cannot currently treat COVID-19 directly and instead concentrate
on relieving symptoms.
62-treatment (noun): medical care given to a patient for an illness or injury
- There is currently no specific antiviral treatment for COVID-19, and infected
patients receive supportive care to help relieve symptoms.
63-vaccine (noun): a substance used to protect humans and animals from
a disease - A vaccine for cholera was invented in 1879.
64-viral (adjective): describing something like, caused by, or relating to
a virus or viruses - Antibiotics cannot be used to treat viral infections because
they don't kill viruses, only bacteria.
65-virus (noun): a living thing, too small to be seen without a microscope, that
causes infectious disease in animals and humans ( colloquially called “the
bug”)- Like all diseases caused by viruses, the common cold cannot be cured
with antibiotics.
66-viral load numerical expression of the quantity of virus in a given volume a
body fluid.
67-virologist: a specialist in virology.
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68-WHO stands for the World Health Organization, a United Nations agency
based in Geneva, Switzerland. According to the WHO, its main role is… “to
direct and coordinate international health within the United Nations system. Our
main areas of work are health systems; health through the life-course;
noncommunicable and communicable diseases; preparedness, surveillance
and response; and corporate services.”
69-zoonotic (adjective): describing a disease that can be transmitted from
animals to humans - To protect yourself from zoonotic diseases it's best to
avoid bites and scratches from animals.
