COVID-19 Glossary
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clinically diagnosedWhen a person is diagnosed with a disease by their health care provider based on symptoms and risk factors, but they did not have a laboratory test to confirm the diagnosis. |
close contactBeing within six feet of a COVID-19 case for a prolonged period of time. |
community mitigationActions that people and communities can take to help slow the spread of viruses, including seasonal and pandemic influenza. |
community spread or community transmissionThe spread of a contagious disease within a community. It also has the specific meaning of “the spread of a contagious disease to individuals in a particular geographic location who have no known contact with other infected individuals or who have not recently traveled to an area where the disease has any documented cases.” |
confirmed caseA coronavirus case that has been confirmed by the CDC. |
contact tracingThe practice of identifying and monitoring individuals who may have had contact with an infectious person as a means of controlling the spread of a communicable disease. |
contagiousTransmissible by direct or indirect contact with an infected person. Contagious diseases may be spread by direct or indirect contact. An ailment such as food poisoning is infectious, it is capable of producing infection, but it is not contagious. The coronavirus, on the other hand, is both contagious and infectious. Anything that is contagious is automatically also infectious, but the reverse is not true. Both words are frequently used in a figurative manner. |
cordon sanitaireA measure preventing anyone from leaving a defined geographic area, such as a community, region, or country infected by a disease to stop the spread of the disease. |
coronavirusA group of RNA viruses that circulate in animals and humans. In humans, they cause respiratory illnesses, which means they cause symptoms in the lungs, throat, and airways. |
COVID-19COVID-19 is “a mild to severe respiratory illness that is caused by a coronavirus,” one that is characterized especially by fever, cough, and shortness of breath and may progress to pneumonia and respiratory failure. The name is an odd sort of acronym, insofar as it is formed from portions of two distinct words (COronaVIrus & Disease) and the latter portion of a date (the 19 from 2019). COVID-19 was first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019. |
CT scan“Computer Tomography scan.” It’s an advanced type of X-ray that makes a more detailed image. CT scans can help identify suspected coronavirus patients. |
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DNADeoxyribonucleic acid. Many of our genes are stored in DNA. Some are stored in RNA. DNA is a sort of blueprint. It tells our bodies how to grow, assemble themselves, and go about the business of living. Coronaviruses are RNA viruses, so they don’t contain DNA. |
drive-through testingIndividuals remain in their vehicles, and medical staff in protective gear come to administer the swab test and the swabs are sent to a laboratory for testing. |
droplet transmission/spreadA mode of transmission for a contagious disease that involves relatively large, short-range (less than 6 feet) respiratory droplets produced by sneezing, coughing, or talking. |
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elective surgeriesProcedures that are considered non-urgent and non-essential. During periods of community transmission, CDC is recommending postponing elective procedures, surgeries, and non-urgent outpatient visits. |