- Coronavirus: these are a large family of viruses (several hundred exist) that commonly cause respiratory illnesses. These coronaviruses exist mainly in pigs, bats, and cats, but can jump to humans in spillover events. (Fun fact: this is why most outbreaks start in densely populated regions where there is a large pig population, such as China and Mexico). COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease of 2019): the disease resulting from the novel coronavirus first detected in China in December 2019.
- SIR Model: This is a model that uses numbers in a population to predict the spreading of a disease, such as COVID-19. SIR stands for susceptible, infected, and recovered members of the population being looked at.
- Susceptible: individuals who can contract the infection. For the purpose of the COVID-19 models, this is anyone in the population who is not currently infected or recovered because nobody is immune and there is no current vaccine.
- Infected: individuals who have contracted the infection.
- Recovered: individuals who were infected and contracted COVID-19, but are not healthy.
- Social distancing: a set of measures that emphasize physical distance between people to prevent or slow the spread of a disease, such as COVID-19.
- Essential workers: Because many states have ordered a “Stay At Home” Order, only the workers necessary to keep society functioning, or the essential ones, are allowed to continue working as normal around others. The rest are required to work from home. Here is Ohio’s Stay At Home Order. Some essential workers include: grocery workers, medical professionals, maintenance workers, etc.
- Quarantine: period of isolation to ensure that one is healthy. In the case of COVID-19, the common practice has been to quarantine at least 14 days if you have been traveling or around a lot of people. Additionally, people should stay in their homes and not leave unless it is “essential”, such as grocery trips.
- Flattening the curve: This term refers to taking action that will lower the spike in the curve of the spreading of COVID-19 that is predicted by experts, such as epidemiologists. This curve is a visual representation of the numeric estimates of the spreading of the epidemic. In other words, “flattening the curve” means taking actions to lessen the spread of the disease, such as limiting social interaction/”social distancing”.
- Rate: the change of a population over time.
- Population: the group of individuals that are affected in the study.
- Exponential growth: rate at which the growth rapidly increases in comparison to the total size of the population. This is what would happen if no measures were put into place to prevent the spreading of COVID-19. This is why “flattening the curve” and “social distancing” are such buzzwords and so important.
- Young population: For the purpose of modeling COVID-19, we have broken the population into age categories because depending on age, you may be more likely to recover from the virus. Unfortunately, the older population is more likely to contract the virus and never recover from it.
- Old population: Again, for the purpose of modeling COVID-19, we have broken the population into age categories because depending on age, you may be more likely to recover from the virus. The younger population is more often carriers, but can still contract and never recover from the virus.