MODALS AUXILIARY What is the difference between pandemic and epidemic? Do infectious and contagious mean the same thing? How exactly does contact tracing work? Even native English speakers may not fully know the answers to these questions. As English learners, you have probably noticed some words and phrases you do not understand when reading reports about the new coronavirus. Today, we look at some of the most common COVID-19 terms. We can start with epidemic versus pandemic . An “epidemic” is when a disease spreads through a population and affects many individuals at the same time. An epidemic may affect a community, province or even a whole country . A “pandemic” is a kind of epidemic -- one that spreads to a much larger area or even worldwide. Like many medical-related terms in English, the word comes from Greek. Pan- means “all or every.” The second part of the word, “-demic,” comes from the Greek word demos , meaning “people.”...
