General Chinese Covid Vocabulary

There are lots of terms we want to share with you. Here’s a list of the most basic vocabulary words and expressions to get you started on talking about Covid-19 in Mandarin Chinese.

English
Chinese
Pinyin

epidemic
疫情
yìqíng

pandemic
全球疫情
quánqiú yìqíng

virus
病毒
bìngdú

variant
变异毒株
biànyì dúzhū

Omicron
奥密克戎
Àomìkèróng

infection
感染
gǎnrǎn

spread
传播
chuánbō

Covid test
新冠检测
xīnguān jiǎncè

Covid case
新冠病例
xīnguān bìnglì

symptom
症状
zhèngzhuàng

immunity
免疫
miǎnyì

vaccine
疫苗
yìmiáo

quarantine
隔离
gélí

lockdown
封控
fēngkòng

zero-Covid
清零
qīnglíng

Before we add more words to this list, here are some technicalities to help you understand how to use these most common Covid words in Chinese.

1. Epidemic in Chinese: 疫情 (yìqíng)

With 疫 (yì) meaning “epidemic” or “plague”, and 情 (qíng) meaning “situation”, the word 疫情 (yìqíng) basically refers to a situation of a virus outbreak. In daily conversations, very often Chinese people use this relatively general term to address Covid.

Sample sentences:

疫情对经济造成了巨大影响。
Yìqíng duì jīngjì zàochéng le jùdà yǐngxiǎng.
The epidemic has had a huge impact on the economy.

2. Pandemic in Chinese: 全球疫情 (quánqiú yìqíng)

The word for “pandemic” in Chinese is 全球疫情 (quánqiú yìqíng), literally “global epidemic”. This is the word you can use when you are talking about an epidemic such as Covid-19 that has spread over continents.

Sample sentences:

没人知道全球疫情会怎样结束。
Méirén zhīdào quánqiú yìqíng huì zěnyàng jiéshù.
No one knows how the pandemic will end.

3. Virus in Chinese: 病毒 (bìngdú)

In Chinese, the word for “virus” is 病毒 (bìngdú), where 病 (bìng) means “disease” or “illness”, and 毒 (dú) means “poison” or “toxin”.

Sample sentences:

新冠不是细菌，而是病毒。
Xīnguān búshì xìjūn, érshì bìngdú.
Covid-19 is not a bacteria, but a virus.

4. Covid Variant in Chinese: 新冠变异毒株 (xīnguān biànyì dúzhū)

Numerous variants of the virus that causes Covid-19 are being tracked globally during this pandemic. In Chinese, Covid variants are called 新冠变异毒株 (xīnguān biànyì dúzhū), literally “Covid mutant poison strains”.

Sample sentences:

新冠变异毒株已经发现超一千种！
Xīnguān biànyì dúzhū yǐjīng fāxiàn chāo yì qiān zhǒng!
Over 1000 Covid-19 variants have been found!

5. Omicron in Chinese: 奥密克戎 (Àomìkèróng)

All major Covid-19 variants have their official Chinese name. Omicron, the variant of concern now is called 奥密克戎 (Àomìkèróng) in Chinese while the earlier Delta variant is transliterated as 德尔塔 (Dé’ěrtǎ).

Sample sentences:

所有的变异毒株，包括德尔塔和奥密克戎，对某些人群来说都很危险。
Suǒyǒu de biànyì dúzhū, bāokuò Dé’ěrtǎ hé Àomìkèróng, duì mǒu xiē rénqún lái shuō dōu hěn wēixiǎn.
All variants, including Delta and Omicron, can be dangerous to certain populations.

Related Reading: How English Names Are Translated into Chinese

6. Infection in Chinese: 感染 (gǎnrǎn)

The word 感染 (gǎnrǎn) can be both a verb and a noun. For instance:

Verb:
我们都感染过新冠。
Wǒmen dōu gǎnrǎn guò xīnguān.
We’ve all had Covid.



Noun:
二次新冠感染可能会更危险。
Èrcì xīnguān gǎnrǎn kěnéng huì gèng wēixiǎn.
Repeat Covid infections could be more dangerous.  

And the people who are infected are called 感染者 (gǎnrǎnzhě) in Chinese.

Sample sentences:

大多新冠感染者都已经恢复了。
Dàduō xīnguān gǎnrǎnzhě dōu yǐjīng huīfù le.
Most of the people that had Covid have already recovered.

7. Spread in Chinese: 传播 (chuánbō)

Numerous efforts have been made across the globe to stop or, at least, delay the spread of Covid-19. In Chinese, the word for “spread” is 传播 (chuánbō). It may also be used to say “transmit”. 

Sample sentences:

任何新冠感染者都可以将病毒传播给他人。
Rènhé xīnguān gǎnrǎnzhě dōu kěyǐ jiāng bìngdú chuánbō gěi tārén.
Anyone who has Covid-19 can spread the virus to others. 

8. Covid Test in Chinese: 新冠检测 (xīnguān jiǎncè)

In Chinese, the term for the Covid-19 test is 新冠检测 (xīnguān jiǎncè) in which 检测 (jiǎncè) means “detection” or “testing”. Don’t confuse the word with 考试 (kǎoshì), which refers to an exam at school.

Sample sentences:

现在你可以在家做新冠检测。
Xiànzài nǐ kěyǐ zài jiā zuò xīnguān jiǎncè.
Nowadays you can take a Covid-19 test at home.

You can learn more Chinese vocabulary related to Covid-19 testing in this section.

9. Covid Case in Chinese: 新冠病例 (xīnguān bìnglì)

病例 (bìnglì) – literally “disease instance” is the word we use in Chinese to describe a particular instance of a disease. A confirmed case is called 确诊病例 (quèzhěn bìnglì) whereas a suspected case is called 疑似病例 (yísì bìnglì).

Sample sentences:

新冠病例数目持续上升。
Xīnguān bìnglì shùmù chíxù shàngshēng.
The number of Covid-19 cases continues to go up.

10. Symptom in Chinese: 症状 (zhèngzhuàng)

The word for “symptom” in Chinese is 症状 (zhèngzhuàng), literally “illness status”. Patients who don’t show symptoms are referred to as 无症状 (wú zhèngzhuàng) in Chinese.

Sample sentences:

常见的新冠症状包括咳嗽，发烧，和喉咙痛。
Chángjiàn de xīnguān zhèngzhuàng bāokuò késòu, fā shāo, hé hóulóng tòng.
Common Covid-19 symptoms include cough, fever, and sore throat.



很多新冠感染者都是无症状。
Hěnduō xīnguān gǎnrǎnzhě dōu shì wú zhèngzhuàng.
Many people infected with Covid-19 were asymptomatic.

Learn more Chinese words connected to Covid-19 symptoms in this section.

11. Immunity in Chinese: 免疫 (miǎnyì)

You may use the word 免疫 (miǎnyì) for “immunity” and “immune”. Literally, the word means “free from epidemic”.

Sample sentences:

奥密克戎告诉我们群体免疫可能只是一种空想。
Àomìkèróng gàosù wǒmen qúntǐ miǎnyì kěnéng zhǐ shì yì zhǒng kōngxiǎng.
Omicron shows us herd immunity might just be a pipe dream.

12. Vaccine in Chinese: 疫苗 (yìmiáo)

The word for “vaccine” in Chinese is 疫苗 (yìmiáo). 疫 (yì) stands for 免疫 (miǎnyì) – “immunity” here and 苗 (miáo) means “seedling”. So basically 疫苗 (yìmiáo) means a seedling growing in your body that’ll give you immunity.

You can use this term whenever you’re talking about vaccines in general. To refer to Covid-19 vaccines, you can say 新冠疫苗 (xīnguān yìmiáo).

Sample sentences:

新冠疫苗有助于阻止疫情传播。
Xīnguān yìmiáo yǒu zhù yú zǔzhǐ yìqíng chuánbō.
Vaccines help stop the spread of Covid-19.  

More Chinese vocabulary related to Covid-19 vaccinations can be found in this section.

13. Quarantine in Chinese: 隔离 (gélí)

The word “quarantine” in Chinese is 隔离 (gélí). It involves separating and restricting the movements of people with confirmed cases (确诊病例/quèzhěn bìnglì) or close contact (密接/mìjiē) to see if they become sick.

In China, quarantine is usually done at home (居家隔离/jūjiā gélí) or in an assigned hotel (酒店隔离/jiǔdiàn gélí). To say a 3-day quarantine period in Chinese, you say 三天隔离 ( sān tiān gélí).

Sample sentences:

前往中国的旅行者不再需要隔离。
Qiánwǎng Zhōngguó de lǚxíngzhě bú zài xūyào gélí.
Quarantine is no longer required for travelers to China.

14. Lockdown in Chinese: 封控 (fēngkòng)

The word for “lockdown” in Chinese is 封控 (fēngkòng) in which 封 (fēng) means “seal off” and 控 (kòng) means “control”. In addition, you may say 封城 (fēng chéng) if you are specifically talking about a city-wide lockdown. And to say “lift lockdown”, you say 解除封控 (jiěchú fēngkòng), or in short – 解封 (jiě fēng).

Sample sentences:

其他国家早就解除新冠封控了。
Qítā guójiā zǎo jiù jiěchú xīnguān fēngkòng le.
Other countries lifted Covid-19 lockdowns long ago.

15. Zero-Covid in Chinese: 清零 (qīnglíng)

The term for Zero-Covid strategy in Chinese is 清零 (qīnglíng), literally, “eradicate to zero”.

For years, China succeeded in preventing the spread of Covid-19, until it didn’t. After a series of street protests against strict lockdowns and extensive testing, the Chinese government finally had to ditch the 清零 (qīnglíng) policy at the end of 2022 and went for 放开 (fàngkāi) – “let go”.

Sample sentences:

长期清零政策被证明是不现实的。
Chángqī qīnglíng zhèngcè bèi zhèngmíng shì bú xiànshí de.
The long-term zero-Covid policy proved to be not realistic.