Covid-19 lingo: five terms we’ve learnt under lockdown

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to create an unprecedented crisis, phrases surrounding the virus have quickly become part of our daily vocabulary.

Just a few months ago, words like “social distancing”, “self-isolation” and “quarantine” were confusing and rarely entered the daily lexicon across SA.

And now - over 100 days into the lockdown that was initially planned for 21 days - it's hard to remember a time before the jargon.

Here are five coronavirus-related phrases that are commonly used.

New normal

This is the term people have found themselves facing, and constantly talking about.

The new normal and what it looks like varies based on where one lives and one's own particular circumstances. It is the new state of being, which has replaced our old ways of living before the pandemic.

Flattening the curve

The phrase use to describe efforts to slow the virus's spread, to lower the number of cases and delay the eventual peak - in order to better manage the related demands on hospitals and infrastructure.

A sharp rise on the curve represents a fast rate of the disease spreading. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a flatter curve is created by a more gradual increase in the number of cases per day and a more gradual decrease.

Cluster

A cluster refers to an aggregation of cases of a disease. It occurs when there is a rapid increase of Covid-19 infections in the same area at the same time.

In the last few weeks, some new cases of the coronavirus have been described as “cluster outbreaks”.

Health minister Zweli Mkhize said cluster outbreaks would increase as infections spill from communities into places such as mines, factories, taxis and buses.

Hotspot

This refers to a geographical area where people live, with many reported cases of Covid-19.

According to the SA coronavirus website, hotspots are determined based on the number of active cases per 100,000 in the population, the rate of increase in active cases, and the capacity of the health system.

Heightened restrictions, for example on movement, have been considered for hotspot areas. Each hotspot is linked to testing and quarantine facilities, and additional hospital beds where necessary.

R0

R0 or R-nought is an epidemiologic metric used to describe how contagious a disease is within a a certain area.

Globally, the R0 is estimated to be between 2 and 3, which means an infected person will on average pass the infection on to between two and three other people.

According to Prof Salim Abdool Karim, infections in SA are still rising. For the infection rate to start dropping, the R0 must be brought below 1.