Covid-19: How dangerous is Omicron?
I
Lead-in.
1)
Take two minutes to write down your
associations with the word ‘virus’. Work in pairs and compare your lists. What
are the similarities and differences in your lists? Ask follow-up questions to
find out more about other students’ associations with the word ‘virus’.
2)
What
viruses are dominant around the world today? What steps are governments and
scientists taking to contain the spread of viruses?
II
Vocabulary focus. Match the words to their definitions. Use three
words in your sentences.
|
1.
|
spread |
A. |
to join
together |
|
2.
|
transmission
|
B. |
to stop
something from happening |
|
3.
|
to designate
|
C. |
objects
or information used to prove that something is true or not true |
|
4.
|
concern
|
D. |
to give
something to someone |
|
5.
|
spike
protein |
E. |
something
that delays the process from happening |
|
6.
|
to bind
|
F. |
to say
officially |
|
7.
|
surveillance
|
G. |
coming
as a preparation before a more important action |
|
8.
|
to
prevent |
H. |
something
that makes people feel worried |
|
9.
|
contagious
|
I. |
to
slowly destroy something |
|
10. |
severe |
J. |
to
start using a plan or a system |
|
11. |
preliminary
|
K. |
component
of coronavirus structure that binds to the cells of (human) body |
|
12. |
evidence
|
L. |
an
action to prevent something bad from happening |
|
13. |
to confer
|
M. |
the
process of covering large area and affecting a larger number of people |
|
14. |
to erode |
N. |
to
appear |
|
15. |
to overtake
|
O. |
close
watch of someone or something |
|
16. |
temporarily
|
P. |
spreading
quickly from one person to another
people |
|
17. |
to implement
|
Q. |
connected
with cells |
|
18. |
precaution
|
R. |
very
bad or serious |
|
19. |
setback
|
S. |
for a
limited period of time |
|
20. |
cellular
|
T. |
to
develop more quickly than something else |
|
21. |
to emerge
|
U. |
the
process of passing something from one person to another |
III Vocabulary focus. Follow the
link below. Focus on the words and
expressions (study definitions), match the terms to their definitions, solve
the crossword puzzle, complete the quiz, chase down the correct answer to earn points, unscramble words and phrases (correct order of letters), type in words
to fill in the blanks, test your knowledge of vocabulary.
IV Watch the video and fill in the gaps with the words from the list. There are some words you don’t need to use.
perfection; virus; infectious; mutations; variant; concession;
dominant; variant of concern; cells; infection; antibodies; predominantly
The world
is on edge as Omicron, the new 1) ______
of Covid-19, spreads around the world.
-
Britain,
Germany, and Italy announced their first Omicron cases.
-
Countries
are scrambling to contain transmission.
-
Researchers
say it could be the most 2) ______ form of the virus so far.
What does the new strain mean for the global fight
against Covid-19? Our experts answer your questions.
-
Why has
it been designated as a 3) ___ ___ ___?
Omicron has been designated as a variant of concern
because of the large number of 4) ______
to its spike protein. It has more mutations than any other variant that has
been observed so far by genomic surveillance. And a large number of those mutations
are on sites of the spike protein, which are known as the binding domain, which
is the bit of the spike that binds to your 5) ______. And they're also the bit of the spike on which antibodies,
the parts of your immune system which protect you from 6) ______, bind in order to prevent that from happening. So lots of
mutations on sites where 7) ______
are being created is of concern.
Between the
mutations discovered on the 8) ______
itself and this epidemiological data there is there are reasons to believe that
Omicron may indeed be a lot more contagious than Delta, which is the current
variant 9) ______ around the world.
V Comprehension check. Mark the sentences as True (T) or False (F). Correct
the false statements.
1. The world is on edge because scientists have
just found the first case of Omicron, the new variant of Covid-19.
2. Omicron
has been called a variant of concern because of the large number of mutations
to its spike protein.
3. Delta
variant had more mutations in its spike protein than Omicron.
4.
Coronavirus uses spike protein as the binding domain; the virus uses this part
of its structure to bind to your cells.
5. Proteins and fats are the parts of your immune
system which protect you from infection.
6. Antibodies need the spike in order to
prevent the infection; antibodies bind on the spike.
7. Epidemiological data can prove that Delta
is far more contagious than Omicron.
8. Delta
is the new Covid variant that will be dominant around the world.
VI Watch the video and choose the correct option to complete the
sentences.
Is Omicron more endangered/dangerous/dangerously than the Delta variant?
We don't know yet whether Omicron causes more several releases/severe disease/all diseased than Delta or
other variants. It's still too early/poorly/nearly
to tell. However preliminary evidence suggests that this may not be the case. And
that really hasn't been the case with previous variants. They usually are a lot
more contaminate/contagious/outrageously
but they're not deadlier.
But what we can be fairly confident about is that
at least for the opponent/composed/component
of your immune system that the antibodies run, that that one of the what's
known as the humoral immune system, the variant is going to erode/exploded/around the immunity
conferred by vaccines/waxed in/toxin
to almost certainly a greater extent than any of the other variants that have emerged
so far. That's thanks to all of those mutants/limitation/mutations
on the receptor binding domain of the spike protein. But what we don't know is
how far it's going to spread/led/read
and how sick it's going to make people when it does or if it does. And all of
that Dotf/data/dated is coming in over
the next two weeks.
Will new vaccines be needed?
The truth is
that we don't know yet whether we are going to need new vaccines for Omicron. That
depends on both how widely it spreads around the world and the degree to which
it erodes immunity/mutiny/immobility
either that built up through infection or vaccination. If the answer to both of
those is a lot, then we may need to upsetting/update/outdates them. But the good news
is that that's a quick process. It takes only a couple of workers/works/weeks to
do the technical bits, and then a few more weeks for the safety checks and to
spin up mass information/mass
consumption/mass production.
VII Watch the video from the previous task and answer the
questions.
1.
Which Covid variant is more dangerous?
2. Do the
experts in the video discuss data showing that Omicron more severe disease than
Delta or other variants?
3. What
do preliminary findings suggest concerning Omicron and severe disease?
4.
Which Covid variant is more contagious?
5. Which
part of immune system does Omicron erode?
6. Does
Omicron erode the immunity conferred by vaccines or built up through infection?
7. Will
people need new types of vaccines?
8.
According to experts how long the development of new vaccines might take?
VIII Watch the video again and
choose the correct option to complete the sentences.
1. Many countries have banned travel from ___.
A. south of Asia
B. South Africa
C. southern cities
2. Also many countries have placed
heavy restrictions such as __________ for people arriving from South Africa.
A. quarantines at hotels
B. two-step testing
C. testing and isolation for 4 weeks
3. Governments are taking measures
to temporarily ____ any outbreaks that Omicron may cause.
A. oversee
B. reverse
C. slow down
4. The British government has implemented
a ____.
A. travel pass
B. social gathering ban
C. travel ban
5. The British government has reintroduced
rules about ____ in public spaces and on public transport.
A. gloves wearing
B. washing hands
C. mask wearing
6. In the UK the government has reintroduced
guidance around ____.
A. social climbing
B. social distancing
C. physical distancing
7. Today scientists have a more
complete understanding of the ____.
A. immune system
B. viral system
C. healthcare system
8. One segment of the immune system is
antibodies, but there's a deeper section of the immune system known as the T cell
or ___ immune system.
A. cellar
B. sailor
C. cellular
9. Cellular immune system is very _____
on a per person basis.
A. strong and stable
B. complex and fragile
C. complicated and unique
10.It's much ___ for variants to
escape people’s cellular immune system.
A. simpler
B. harder
C. easier
11.Immunologists hope that even if
Omicron erodes immunity at the antibody level of the system, that cellular
immunity will ____.
A. easier to recreate in laboratory
B. easier to study
C. protect people
A)
What
reasons do the scientists have to hope that the new Covid-19 variant will not
be more dangerous than the previous virus strands? Look back at the videos to
find at least four reasons for optimism.
B)
Think about the measures governments take to delay the spread of
Omicron. Which measures have already been implemented in your country? Which
measures in your opinion may be most effective to delay the spread of the new
variant of Covid-19?
