This week's news:
- A first lead for treating coronavirus: chloroquine. [spp-timestamp time=”00:00:38″]
- Covid-19 symptoms: loss of smell added to the list. [spp-timestamp time=”00:01:36″]
- The situation becomes increasingly dramatic in Italy with 800 deaths in 24 hours this Saturday. [spp-timestamp time=”00:02:00″]
- Coronavirus epidemic: an update on postponed or cancelled sporting and cultural events. [spp-timestamp time=”00:03:10″]
- Vocabulary of the week explained [spp-timestamp time=”00:05:06″]
Transcription
Welcome to the HelloFrench news review, the podcast that immerses you in the week's news to help you improve your French.
Headlines for the week of March 15 to 21, 2020:
- A first lead for treating coronavirus: chloroquine.
- Covid-19 symptoms: loss of smell added to the list.
- The situation becomes increasingly dramatic in Italy with 800 deaths in 24 hours this Saturday.
- Coronavirus epidemic: an update on postponed or cancelled sporting and cultural events.
What if chloroquine, a medication usually used to fight [tooltips keyword=”paludisme” content=”malaria”] malaria, were the solution for treating Covid-19? That is at least what a doctor from Marseille, Didier Raoult, claims. In the study he conducted on 24 patients, 75% of them saw the virus [tooltips keyword=”complètement” content=”totally”] completely disappear within six days. In a second group of patients who did not take the medication, only 10% are no longer carriers of the virus. This treatment will now be tested on a larger scale, the French government announced. The French pharmaceutical company Sanofi announced it would donate doses of Plaquenil, an anti-malarial medication, which could make it possible to [tooltips keyword=”soigner” content=”to treat”] treat 300,000 patients. Caution remains warranted regarding this miracle [tooltips keyword=”remède” content=”cure”] remedy. Indeed, Chinese doctors had already considered this avenue before abandoning it. Only [tooltips keyword=”grande échelle” content=”in large scales”] large-scale trials will truly [tooltips keyword=”attester” content=”certify”] confirm its effectiveness.
[tooltips keyword=”Fièvre” content=”fever”] Fever, dry [tooltips keyword=”toux” content=”cough”] cough, and respiratory difficulties. These three symptoms had until now remained the main signs of a Covid-19 infection. Doctors have added a new symptom to this list: loss of [tooltips keyword=”odorat” content=”smell”] smell. A temporary disappearance of the sense of smell was notably observed in younger patients, between 23 and 45 years old, without these patients necessarily having a [tooltips keyword=”nez bouché” content=”blocked nose”] stuffy nose.
A situation that is becoming increasingly dramatic in Italy despite a total lockdown. Each day the number of deaths due to coronavirus only keeps increasing, with 430 deaths on Thursday, 600 on Friday, and 800 deaths recorded this Saturday. An even more radical decision was therefore taken by the Italian government on Saturday evening, to try harder to reduce the [tooltips keyword=”propagation” content=”spread”] spread of the virus. The country is closing all its factories from March 22 to April 3. A very difficult decision to make from an economic standpoint, for Giuseppe Conte, the Italian prime minister. He described the current situation as "the most serious crisis the country has faced since the Second World War." Only factories essential for supplying essential goods to the population remain open. Pharmacies, supermarkets, banks, and public transport remain open for now. Since the beginning of the epidemic, more than 5,000 Italians have lost their lives and 3,000 people are currently in [tooltips keyword=”soins intensifs” content=”intensive care”] intensive care.
Following the coronavirus epidemic, many events have been preventively cancelled around the world. The worlds of sport and culture are particularly affected by these [tooltips keyword=”annulations” content=”cancellations”] cancellations.
In football, the European Championship 2020 will ultimately take place from June 11 to July 11, 2021. As planned, the [tooltips keyword=”compétition” content=”league, championship”] competition will be held in 12 different countries. The Champions League and Europa League are suspended for the moment. UEFA is, however, considering having teams play matches on weekends to wrap up the [tooltips keyword=”championnat” content=”league, championship”] championship by June 30. National championships are also suspended for now in many countries such as France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Brazil, and Mexico.
In tennis, the season is suspended for now until June 7. Roland-Garros has already been postponed to the fall.
In basketball, the NBA has also been suspended until further notice.
For now, the Tokyo Olympics are still on, although many athletes, including notably the American athletics federation, are calling for a [tooltips keyword=”report” content=”the delay, the postponement”] postponement. The Tour de France, which was supposed to start on June 27, also remains on schedule, despite the looming threat of cancellation.
In the world of cinema, the Cannes Film Festival, usually held in May, has already announced its postponement, probably to June or July. A first. The Eurovision Song Contest, which was supposed to take place in Rotterdam in May, has been cancelled. No new date has yet been proposed. Many films have also [tooltips keyword=”décalé” content=” to shift something, to postpone something “] postponed their release due to the epidemic: the latest James Bond, Mulan, and Fast & Furious 9. Many museums and monuments also remain closed to enforce lockdowns in the various countries where they have been imposed. This is notably the case for the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Great Wall of China, and Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Vocabulary of the week
Expand your French vocabulary - download our list of key words from the week of March 15 to 21, 2020.
■ Le paludisme (malaria): a tropical disease transmitted by an insect, when certain mosquitoes bite us.
■ La solution (solution): the answer to a problem, an idea or something that allows us to overcome a difficulty.
■ Soigner (verb - to treat/to care for): to provide care, to help heal, to try to make a disease disappear.
■ Complètement (adverb - completely): totally, entirely.
■ Le médicament (medication): a substance, something taken to treat oneself, a remedy to try to recover from a disease.
■ Le traitement (treatment): all the medications and instructions given to a patient for care. Everything that will help treat a patient.
■ La dose (dose): the quantity of a medication. The appropriate portion of something.
■ La prudence (caution): prudence is an attitude. It is being careful, thinking about what could happen.
■ Le remède miracle (miracle cure): a remedy is a medication or something used to heal. When we speak of a miracle cure, we mean a magical medication that would be extraordinary, that would very easily cure patients.
■ À grande échelle (on a large scale): on a large scale, on more people or over a larger area. For example: "This medication worked on two patients. Now, let's do a large-scale test on 1,000 patients."
■ Attester (verb - to attest/to certify): to assure, to certify something through proof or testimony.
■ L'efficacité (effectiveness): very good performance. When we say something is effective or has shown effectiveness, it means: "It worked very well." It can also be used for a person. When we say someone acts with effectiveness, they acted without wasting time and quickly achieved the expected result.
■ La fièvre (fever): when someone's temperature is higher, more elevated than normal. For example: "He has a high fever, his temperature has risen to 39 degrees."
■ La toux (cough): expelling air from the lungs while making a lot of noise. It's when our airways, our bronchi are irritated and we exhale making a lot of noise. Generally, this happens when we are sick or when we have swallowed the wrong way.
■ Le symptôme (symptom): the way a disease shows itself, manifests. It is thanks to a symptom that we can discover we have a disease.
■ L'odorat (sense of smell): it is a sense. It allows us to smell odors with our nose.
■ Boucher (verb - to block), nez bouché (stuffy nose): something prevents passage, it is obstructed. For example: "My nose is blocked, I can't breathe anymore. I need to blow my nose."
■ Diminuer (to decrease): to lower, to make smaller, to make less large.
■ La propagation (spread): the act of spreading, of propagating, of affecting more people.
■ L'usine (factory): an industry where people work to build objects, food... For example: cars, chocolate, canned vegetables...
■ La population (population): the people, the inhabitants.
■ Les soins intensifs (intensive care): the part of the hospital that cares for patients who are in a coma, who must be monitored constantly, or whose health condition is very poor.
■ L'annulation (cancellation): something or an event is cancelled. For example: "My train was cancelled again this morning. I keep having cancellations lately."
■ Le championnat (championship): the competition, a set of sporting events.
■ La compétition (competition): a championship, a sporting event with several competitors.
■ Préventivement (adverb - preventively): in advance, in a preventive manner. A decision is made now to make sure the situation does not worsen or imagining that it will worsen.
■ Suspendre (to suspend): to stop, to interrupt for some time.
■ Le report (postponement): an event is not cancelled but it is postponed, moved to a later date. It will take place at a different time than originally planned.
■ Décaler (to postpone/to reschedule): to postpone an event. It will take place at a different time than originally planned.
