Editor's Note: This article was published on Aug. 27, 2020 and has since been overtaken by events. Here are the rules for the March 2021 GCQ Bubble:
GCQ Bubble vs GCQ vs MECQ: What's the Difference?
GCQ Bubble: Here are the Rules on Public Transport
The original article follows:
These are the acronyms that dictate what millions can or cannot do since the start of the coronavirus quarantine in March. Five months in, the jargon is growing and the definitions are evolving, causing confusion among those who don't follow the news closely. Google has the answer, in English, Filipino and Cebuano.
Google's online dictionary pools together all the pandemic and new normal terms that guide quarantine life. Acronyms by themselves are abhorrent and require simplifaction for everyone to understand. Very few of these shorthands graduate to everyday language, think UN and EU, and in the Philippines, PAGASA and PHIVOLCS.
Understanding COVID-19 jargon is not only useful, it can be life-saving. Who knows at the drop of a hat that APOR stands for Authorized Person Outside of Residence? It's basically a police term used to distinguish who can move around without a quarantine pass, essentially those who can work during this time.
Or PUI (Person Under Investigation) and PUM (Person Under Monitoring)? A PUI shows symptoms of COVID-19 while a PUM doesn't, though both are being watched by authorities.
What about flattening the curve? It means that when daily cases are plotted as a line graph, the line is flat, meaning the spread of the disease is slowing.
NEWS YOU CAN USE:
Why 'Swab' is Gold for COVID-19 Tests and Where You Can Get It
Yes, You Can Wash Cloth Face Masks in the Washing Machine
So Russia Has a Vaccine, What's Next for the Philippines?
