Learning Vocabulary Through Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

Learning vocabulary through a context would help the learners understand and remember the words more easily and effectively.

In 2020, the human race has been stricken by a novel coronavirus outbreak. I went through some articles to write a short and general summary about the novel coronavirus with some words, which have been frequently used in many reports or articles.

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Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

A pneumonia of unknown cause detected in Wuhan, China was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office  in China on 31 December, 2019. The disease appeared to be epidemic in Wuhan before WHO declared it as a pandemic because the disease has been widespread throughout the world.

The novel coronavirus disease was named as Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The disease outbreak happened because it was very infectious - the virus transmission took place easily from human to human. The transmission occurred through respiratory droplets from coughing and sneezing.

Some common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, dry cough and tiredness. Some people might encounter loss of taste or smell. One of the serious symptoms is shortness of breath.

The people, who were infected with the virus, might appear to be symptomatic and asymptomatic. Asymptomatic virus carrier could pose risk to the people around them.

Therefore, in many countries, precautionary measures have been introduced to contain the spread. The people must wear masks whenever they go out and practise social distancing at 1 metre. They also have to practise good personal hygiene by washing their hands regularly with soap and water.

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List of vocabulary and its definition (reference: Cambridge Dictionary):

pneumonia: a serious illness in which one or both lungs become red and swollen and filled with liquid

epidemic: the appearance of a particular disease in a large number of people at the same time

pandemic: a disease that exists in almost all of an area or in almost all of a group of people, animals, or plants

outbreak: a time when something suddenly begins, especially a disease or something else dangerous or unpleasant

infectious: (of a disease) able to be passed from one person, animal, or plant to another; contagious

transmission: the process of passing something from one person or place to another

symptomatic: showing symptoms of a particular disease

asymptomatic: showing no symptoms of a particular disease