About four months ago, our governor, here in one of the southernmost states in Brazil, ordered a lockdown. The Coronavirus COVID-19 nightmare was just reaching this part of the world.

Since then, we have been learning many words, expressions, idioms, in order to be able to speak about the virus, herd immunity, safety measures, our new routines, work from home, remote learning, emotional responses… Videos, songs, poems, jokes, which refer to the pandemic, that inform, entertain or motivate us.

Scroll down andreaalthoff.com.br, if you want to review them.

The pandemic came, and apparently is at its peak now, or not… There’s a lot of controversy about it.

We were placed on lockdown one more time about a week ago, but it was already lifted. So, Blumenau is not in lockdown anymore.

“When major decisions must be made amid high scientific uncertainty, as is the case with Covid-19, we can’t afford to silence or demonize professionals with different views. Even worse, we can’t allow questions of science, medicine, and public health to become captives of politics. Misinformation about Covid-19 is abundant and today, more than ever, we need vigorous academic debate.

Since Covid-19 first emerged at the end of 2019, thousands of scientists have been working to answer fundamental questions. How lethal is it? How many people have already had it? If so, are they now immune? What drugs can fight it? What can societies do to slow it? What happens when we relax our public health interventions? Can we develop a vaccine to stop it?

Scientists agree that it will take 18 months or longer to develop a vaccine. Even for cloth masks, we see arguments on both sides.

Some believe that nations which instituted social distancing but with fewer lockdown restrictions, are pursuing the wisest course — at least for that country — while others favor the strictest lockdown measures possible. We think it is important to hear, consider, and debate these views without hostility.”

So, here we are! What do you think about all this? How do you feel about it?

This text contains excerpts from the article https://www.statnews.com/2020/04/27/hear-scientists-different-views-covid-19-dont-attack-them/, which were selected with the solely purpose of providing a basis for class discussion, through vocabulary learning and practice of an issue we’re all experiencing. A couple of more difficult words were replaced by more easier ones, to facilitate understanding.