The new respiratory illness that emerged in China last December and has now been named COVID-19 has also been detected in Russia. COVID-19, caused by a novel coronavirus (коронави́рус), has, understandably, received a lot of coverage in Russian-language media. This post will share some useful vocabulary for talking about this and other seasonal diseases.

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Seasonal Illnesses

First, let us talk about the more common seasonal diseases (сезонные заболевания).

• просту́да — a common cold
  • простуди́ться — to catch a cold
• грипп — flu

Я ду́мал, что у простуди́лся, но оказа́лось, что у меня́ грипп (I thought I had a cold, but it turned out to be the flu).

Some of the common symptoms are:

• ка́шель — cough
  • ка́шлять — to cough
• на́сморк — nose congestion
  • сморка́ться, вы́сморкаться — to blow your nose
• температу́ра — a (high) temperature

Снача́ла у меня́ был то́лько на́сморк, а потом подняла́сь температу́ра (First, I just had a runny nose, and then I got a fever).

COVID-19 Story

The new virus emerged in China (Кита́й), where it apparently jumped from wild animals (живо́тные) to humans (лю́ди). It is thought that animal meat (мя́со) might have been sold at a market (ры́нок) in the city of Wuhan (Уха́нь). Interestingly, the name of the city, Ухань, has appeared both as a feminine and as a masculine noun in Russian media: в Ухани and в Ухане, respectively.

Even though the city was eventually placed under quarantine (каранти́н), the virus has spread to other counties. Russia has had 2 cases (слу́чаи) of the disease, both in people returning from China. Both are reported to be cured (вы́лечились) now.

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Russian Response

The Russian government has closed off the border (грани́ца) with China even though the WHO (ВОЗ) has discouraged dramatic measures like that. All flights (ре́йсы) from China now land in one specific airport.

Several Russian citizens (гра́ждане) have been evacuated (эвакуи́рованы) from China. Some have been put up at convalescent resorts (санато́рии) for a two-week quarantine, although local residents (жи́тели) have sometimes resisted housing evacuees there. There were also stories of people leaving the hospital without authorization, presumably because they were not given proper information and care.

How has your community been affected by COVID-19? Has it been covered in the media where you live?