In the last few years the topic of COVID 19 has come into all of our lives, so it is natural that questions on the subject will appear on the IELTS examination. This page contains some words and phrases that will help you to talk about COVID related issues and impacts. There are some exercises for you to IELTS practice with some real questions.
Table of Contents
1. General COVID Vocabulary
- Asymptomatic – Without symptoms
- Case – An instance of COVID infection
- Epidemic – A widespread occurrence of an infectious disease
- Disease – A disorder of structure or function in a humans, animals, or plants
- Facemask – A protective mask that covers the nose and mouth
- High risk – Involving or exposed to a high level of danger
- ICU – The intensive care unit of a hospital
- Impact – A marked or noticeable effect
- Outbreak – A sudden occurrence of an infectious disease
- Pandemic – When a disease is occurring over an entire country, region, or the world
- Quarantine – A period in which people exposed to a disease must remain in isolation
- Symptom – A physical sign that a person is sick
- To spread – To disperse/move over an area
- Vaccine – A preparation containing weakened bacteria that is injected to protect against disease
- Ventilators – An appliance used for assisting people to breathe
- Vulnerable – Highly susceptible to illness or harm
2. General COVID Vocabulary Activity
| Read Full Answer |
What are some of the ways that COVID changed people’s lives? I think that since the start of the pandemic, the Coronavirus has had a drastic impact on many people’s lives, especially the old and vulnerable. One of the major changes is that people now have to wear facemasks in public and on public transport to prevent spreading the infection. Also, those who were infected with COVID were forced to quarantine, often for several weeks at a time. Furthermore, almost everyone has had to be vaccinated at least once, and in many cases three times, to try and reduce the number of new cases and contain the outbreak. |
3. COVID Idioms and Collocations
- Community transfer – infections between people in a community
- Contact tracing – The process of trying to identify who has been in contact with infected people
- Flatten the curve – Prevent the rate of infections from increasing rapidly
- Hand sanitiser – An alcohol-based cleaning product
- Herd immunity – The resistance built up by populations after a high number of people have been infected
- Incubation period – The time it takes from being infected with something to the presentation of symptoms
- Lockdown – An emergency situation where people cannot leave their homes
- Panic buying – The act of buying more than necessary because you think there will be a future shortage
- Personal protective equipment (PPE) – The protective clothing used to minimise exposure to infection
- Self-isolation – To isolate or separate yourself from others to prevent the spread of infection
- Social distancing – The practice of maintaining a safe distance from other people to prevent the spread of infection
- Superspreader – A person who infects lots of people with a disease
4. COVID Idioms and Collocations Activity
| Read Full Answer |
Do you think your government’s response to Coronavirus has been effective? Personally, I think that my government’s response was inadequate. First, I think they should have been faster to introduce a nationwide lockdown. In the opening weeks their advice was simply to self-isolate if you suspected you may be infected. They told people to socially distance on public transport, but it wasn’t really possible during rush hour because of the number of people. I think they should have restricted how much people were allowed to buy from supermarkets to avoid panic buying. They didn’t take into account the weeklong incubation period of the disease, which meant that infected people were walking around without knowing they were infected. Furthermore, the government invested millions of pounds in PPE that was not fit for purpose and had to be thrown away. I think they should have used contact tracing from the start, similar to in South Korea, which would have flattened the curve much faster and resulted in less deaths. |
For more practice, Visit IELTS vocabulary for Happiness.
