The Hindu Editorial Vocabulary 13th March 2020
- outbreak (noun) – sudden appearance/occurrence (of a disease); outburst, epidemic.
- gallop (verb) – proceed/rise at great speed.
- spotlight (verb) – focus attention on, highlight, draw attention to.
- novel coronavirus (nCoV) (SARS-CoV-2) (noun) – a new strain (type/variety) coronavirus that has not been previously identified in humans. (Courtesy: WHO)
- pandemic (noun) – The worldwide spread of a new disease; The illness spreads around the world and typically affects a large number of people across a wide area.
- come as no surprise (phrase) – to be anticipated (expected).
- alarming (adjective) – worrying, disturbing, shocking/distressing.
- window of opportunity (phrase) – lucky chance, good time, golden opportunity.
- contain (verb) – control, limit, restrain.
- narrow (verb) – diminish, decrease, reduce.
- triple (verb) – increase by three, treble.
- stir (verb) – begin to be active, prompt, motivate, encourage.
- course (noun) – the method in which something rises/develops; rise, development, progress, advance.
- containment (noun) – an act of keeping something (harmful) under control.
- all the more (phrase) – even more.
- handful (adjective) – few, one or two, a small number.
- cluster (noun) – group, bunch, mass (of).
- local transmission (cluster) (noun) – local spread/transmission means spread of an illness/disease for which the source of infection is known. An infected person has travel history to an affected area. We could able to identify and trace individual cases, and ring-fence a cluster (of them) to prevent the spread of infection.
- community transmission (noun) – community spread/transmission means spread of an illness/disease for which the source of infection is unknown. An infected person has no travel history to an affected area and no known contact with a person previously diagnosed with a particular disease. It is possible the patient is exposed to a returning traveler who is infected.
- overwhelm (verb) – overload, beset, overburden; disturb, affect.
- contact tracing (noun) – it is defined as the identification and follow-up of persons who may have come into contact with a person infected with the virus.
- so far (phrase) – until now, up to the present, up to this point.
- come in contact with (phrase) – to touch someone unknowingly.
- prudent (adjective) – wise, sensible, well judged.
- look for (phrasal verb) – search for, try to find, try to track down.
- close down (phrasal verb) – shut off, cease, cause to stop (working).
- quarantine (verb) – separate, set apart, segregate, detach (people, animals and things (such as plants) from others for a period of time in order to control/restrict the spread of a contagious disease).
- screening (noun) – examination, testing (of a group of people for the symptoms of a disease). The process of identifying healthy people who may be at increased risk of disease or condition.
- thermal screening (noun) – a process of checking the body temperature of the person and show if he/she has symptoms of viral infections.
- pull out all the stops (phrase) – make a very great effort, try hard, strive (to achieve something).
- fragile (adjective) – weak, shaky/risky, unreliable, insubstantial, feeble/unsound.
- exponentially (adverb) – rapidly, quickly, fast.
