The Year of the Crown

As the коронавирусная пандемия (the coronavirus pandemic) still affects just about every aspect of our lives, it has, of course, been changing the way we speak. Russian is filled with new words and phrases that even six months ago would have been incomprehensible.

The basics of the Russian Covid lexicon come from English. It’s called коронавирус (coronavirus) or ковид, less frequently ковид-19. Doctors say: Он заболел / заразился ковидом or коронавирусом (He came down with Covid or coronavirus). Once a person is sick, he is инфицированный вирусом (infected with the virus) or simply заболевший (ill).  

The adjective ковидный is a bit less formal, but is used for, say, ковидный центр (Covid treatment center) or ковидный кашель (Covid cough). Ковидный can also mean a patient with the disease: В нашей больнице 25 ковидных. (We have 25 Covid patients in our hospital.)