The ongoing coronavirus pandemic that started in China in December last year has disrupted life across the world. Measures like travel restrictions, border closures and stay-at-home orders have been implemented to prevent the spread of the virus.
The new normal that has included working from home and wearing face masks in public has also seen the public use words like social distancing and quarantine more frequently.
In this article, using the A-Z alphabet format, we list words that have become part of our daily vocabulary as we learn to live with the virus.
Asymptomatic: refers to someone who has the disease but does not show any symptoms.
Other words here are antibodies and Artemisia, used to make the Madagascar’s self-proclaimed herbal covid treatment.
Ban: Several countries used bans to prevent the spread of Covid-19 from what they deemed high-risk areas. These included travel bans and extended to bans on social gatherings and movement at certain hours.
Contact-tracing: the process of identifying and testing people who have been exposed to a contagious disease like the coronavirus. This is done to prevent onward transmission.
Other words here include curfew which was imposed in many countries as they declared states of emergency.
Distancing: social or physical distancing is a key preventive measure that has been adopted in many countries. It simply refers to keeping a safe distance between oneself and other people. Avoiding crowded areas is also a component of this strategy.
Other words here include drive-through testing and droplet transmission.
Essential services: These referred to tasks that are needed to ensure an individual or community’s health, safety and survival for example getting food or medicine. During lockdowns imposed by several governments, the tag was also extended to functions required to facilitate government continuity and secure welfare of the people.
Other terms here are epicenter, endemic and epidemic among others.
Flatten the curve: This refers to slowing the rate of infection (reduce peak number of cases), so that the healthcare system is not overwhelmed i.e hospitals treat fewer people over time.
Garlic: Garlic was one of many natural remedies that were touted as having ability to prevent, treat or cure the coronavirus. There is however no scientific proof to back these claims.
A claim that 5G caused the coronavirus has also been repeatedly debunked.
Herd immunity: refers to a scenario where enough people in a community have become immune to a disease, either through exposure or via a vaccine. A few countries like Sweden adopted this approach.
Other words are hand hygiene, hydroxychloroquine and home (stay home).
Incubation: this is the period between when a person gets infected with a disease and when they start showing symptoms. The Covid-19 incubation period of 2-14 days guided key decisions like lengths of quarantines.
Other terms here include ICU beds, index cases, isolation, infodemic, and immunity.
Job loss: measures taken to prevent the sprea
