Coronavirus Word List – Glossary Of Common Covid 19 Vocabulary Words

In the current times, it is necessary as well as beneficial to know the terminologies related to Covid-19. Along with usage in day-to-day conversations, learning Covid 19 related vocabulary might also help you prepare for your IELTS Speaking task and ace the questions your examiner has for you in perfect English. This blog will take you through Covid 19 vocabulary words and phrases and collocations that you can use to improve the quality of your answers.

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Covid-19 IELTS Vocabulary

Novel Coronavirus, or Covid-19 as it is popularly known, struck the world during November and December 2019. The virus created a crisis all over the world due to its highly contagious nature. Since then, pandemics and lockdowns have been commonly discussed topics throughout daily conversations.

As the pandemic became the new normal, our vocabulary changed as well. A major difference can be seen in how we used to speak about our day-to-day lives pre-Covid and how we speak today. There are a number of terms, both general and medical, related to coronavirus.

As the IELTS Speaking test involves having a conversation about yourself and your life with the examiner, the best path to scoring well in such a situation is to be well-versed with your Covid 19 IELTS vocabulary. Knowing the correct Covid-19 vocabulary can help you in your IELTS Writing and Reading tasks as well.

Important Terms Related to Covid-19

In the English language IELTS test Speaking task, your topic can be centred around the virus or related to it in some form or another. The vocabulary related to Covid-19 can be divided into five major segments:

• Talking about the virus
• Talking about the symptoms
• Talking about restrictions
• Talking about behaviour

Let’s go through the important words, phrases and collocations that can help you improve your vocabulary related to Covid-19 in the above-mentioned sequence.

Talking about the virus

Word	Meaning	Usage
Disease	Illness or sickness	A healthy body is free of diseases
Contagious	A disease that can spread between two people upon contact	Covid-19 is a highly contagious disease
Pandemic	The spread of a disease throughout a country or the whole world	The Covid-19 virus outbreak has been classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization
Incubation period	The time duration between a person’s first exposure to the disease and when the symptoms develop	The disease’s incubation period helps doctors determine the quarantine period
Pathogen	The bacteria or virus responsible for causing the disease	The pathogen related to Covid-19 mutates rapidly
Diagnose	The testing and examination of a patient’s symptoms to point out the disease that ails them	The early diagnosis of Covid-19 can be problematic as many patients exhibit symptoms much later
Underlying health issues	The presence of a pre-existing disease or illness in a patient’s body	People with underlying health issues face complications during the treatment for Covid-19
A new strain	A genetic variant	Covid-19 is a type of strain of the coronavirus

Talking about the symptoms

Word	Meaning	Usage
Running a temperature	To have a fever	She was running a temperature during the night
Acute respiratory problems	Severe breathing problems	Covid-19 is known to cause acute respiratory problems in patients
Asymptomatic	Exhibiting no symptoms	Many people diagnosed with Covid-19 were asymptomatic
Fatigue	Extreme tiredness	She has been fatigued ever since she got sick with Covid-19
Shallow breath	Shortness of breath or unable to breath	Shallow breath is one of the first symptoms of Covid-19
Contaminated	Infected with germs	A Covid-19 patient should be in isolation to prevent contamination

Talking about restrictions

Word	Meaning	Usage
Border restrictions	Measures taken to control the movement of people, animals and goods across borders	In February 2020, most countries across the world started imposing border restrictions
Isolation/self-isolate	Being alone	It is better to be in isolation if you have been infected with Covid-19
Quarantine	A period during which a person infected with a disease is kept away from others to avoid further spread of the disease	Doctors advise Covid-19 patients to be in quarantine for 14 days
Lockdown	A situation during which a specific area or building is closed for free movement due to an emergency	Partial lockdowns have become the new normal of today’s world
Fine	The imposition of monetary penalty for breaking the rules	People roaming outside during the lockdown were fined by the police
Curfew	A pacific time where everyone must stay indoors	These days, night curfews are imposed to limit movement

Talking about behaviour

Word	Meaning	Usage
Herd immunity	When a specific proportion of the population is immune to disease through vaccines or natural immunity	Through extensive vaccinations, our country can achieve herd immunity
Remote working	Working at a job outside the office	Since the pandemic, offices have encouraged remote working
Social distancing	Maintaining a safe distance from other people to avoid the spread of the disease	Social distancing should be followed in crowded places
Stock up	Buying supplies to prevent a shortage in the future	People stocked up on daily essentials before the lockdown

Covid-19 Word Puzzle

Here’s a quick and fun word game to help you practise your newly acquired vocabulary as well. How many words did you spot correctly, let us know in the comments below!

Sample Prompts for IELTS Writing Practice

Now that you know the most popular words related to Covid and how to use them in the right context. You can use this knowledge to practise these sample questions. They are specially created so that you can use maximum covid related words and get confident in this category.

• Share your views on whether or not it is safe for companies to allow their employees to work from home?
• A few people say that it’s always better if the employees are given the choice to work from home as travelling to and from the workplace during these Covid-19 times is risky. What are your views on this?
• A lot of the employees now prefer to work from home. Do you think this will affect the way the company’s internal processes work? Do you feel it will be beneficial for the company? Or is it going to create problems for the companies in the future (in terms of security)?
• The benefits of working from home outweigh the disadvantages. Do you agree with this statement or not? Support your views with appropriate examples.
• In today’s world, most people have their PC or laptop with a good working internet connection. So it becomes easier to work from home for the employees. Is working from home beneficial for the employees as well as the company? Give reasons to support your answer. You can also include relevant examples from your knowledge or personal experience. 
• Working from home can be problematic for many people. As seen in some cases, we see children causing a disturbance at home during a meeting, absence of an office-like atmosphere, coordination problems among peers, etc. But, seeing the Covid-19 world situation, companies offer work from home as an option. Do you think people can manage and work properly while working from home? Give your views along with an example.
• Remote working or working from home is not a first-time phenomenon. Do you think companies should keep hiring remote employees for managing their work? Do you think it can help the companies? Provide reasons for your answer with a relevant example from your knowledge or personal experience.

Sample Essay Writing Task 

Q. A few people say that it’s always better if the employees are given the choice to work from home as travelling to and from the workplace during these Covid-19 times is risky. What are your views on this?

Ans. The coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic struck the world in 2019, and things have changed completely ever since. With lockdowns all over the world, the work culture within companies and organisations changed massively. This gave rise to the work from the home culture, which impacted the dynamic of every organisation.

Since travel became a risky aspect due to the highly contagious nature of the virus, companies resorted to imposing work from home protocols within their organisations to make sure the economy does not come to a halt. Working from home has made a massive difference in how the employees of the company work. 

Work from home provides the employees with the relief to work remotely and safely. This helps them work at their own pace and avoid falling prey to the virus as social distancing measures are compromised while working in a closed space. It helps stay away from an infected person.

Along with the work from home culture came the opportunities for people to work remotely. Working remotely increased the employment opportunities for experienced people as well as freshers. People with various skill sets can now find jobs in companies worldwide while working from home.

In conclusion, the option to work from home has been a boon to employees and companies alike as it offsets the risk of catching the coronavirus and prevents the spread of the virus. People infected with the virus can now keep working in self-isolation without taking leaves from work and recovering at the same time.

Conclusion

As the vocabulary related to Covid-19 is very extensive, you should keep reading new terms and phrases related to Covid-19 to improve your grammar and vocabulary as part of your IELTS preparation. Brushing up on the above-mentioned terms and phrases can be the best way to score high in your IELTS exam. 

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