What We Talked About in 2020! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Health

The two institutions mentioned are linked to the health area. The CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, formed in 1946, is a national public health institute, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. It aims to protect public health and safety through disease, injury and disability control, both in the US and internationally.

WHO - World Health Organization, founded in 1948 and headquartered in Geneva, CH, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. Its main objective, defined by its constitution, is: "the attainment by all people of the highest possible level of health".

Answer: The year when the disease emerged

The World Health Organization - WHO, the UN health agency, announced in February 2020 that COVID-19 is the official name of the disease that spread to almost all countries in the world in 2020; "co" is from "corona", "vi" for "virus" and "d" for "disease" and "19" is for the year in which the first case of the disease appeared, 2019.

It is interesting to remember that, when naming new diseases, WHO has chosen names that avoid making reference to a group of people, geographic locations or any species of animal, thus avoiding stigmatization.

Answer: A large and highly industrialized city with a population of around 11 million inhabitants

Wuhan is the capital and the largest city in the Hubei province, with a population of around 11 million people. It lies on the confluence of the Yangtze and Han rivers and it is a very important political, economical, educational, financial, logistical and cultural city in Central China.

Answer: A market that sells perishable goods, including live animals

A "wet market" is a place that sells fresh meat, fish and sometimes live animals. The sale of wild and exotic animals in these markets led to suspicions that they were linked to outbreaks of zoonotic diseases. These markets are common in some countries, especially in Asia. They play a critical role in food supply, as they offer better prices, fresh food, physical accessibility and encourage social interaction.

The term "wet market" was added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) in 2016. The "wet" in "wet market" refers to the constantly wet ground due to the melting of ice used to prevent food from spoiling.

Answer: Pandemics affect larger areas than epidemics

The term epidemic is generally used when there is a very rapid increase in cases of a disease in a restricted area. An example of an epidemic was the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that spread in Asia in 2002/2003.

The term pandemic is used to describe a disease that has spread globally and has a high incidence of morbidity and mortality. The word pandemic derives from the Greek word "pan" which means "all" or "everywhere" and the word "demos" which means "people". A pandemic occurs when everyone can be potentially exposed to the disease. The 1918-1919 Spanish flu is an example of pandemic.

Answer: Ignaz P. Semmelweis

The Hungarian physician and scientist Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis (1818-1865) is considered one of the first scientists to recommend sanitizing. He observed that the post-labor infections, that often led to death, could be reduced with the disinfection of hands in maternity wards.

His observations were criticized by the doctors and scientists who were offended by his suggestion that washing hands was so important. His proposition was only accepted after his death and after the discoveries made by Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister.

Answer: True

True. While in Western countries the use of face masks was restricted until 2020 to those used for professional reasons, in Asian countries, especially in Japan, China and Taiwan, the use of masks for medical, cultural and environmental reasons has been common since the 1950s.

Many Asians wear masks when feeling sick to avoid contaminating others. Some use it as a safeguard against viruses, air pollution, to warm the face in winter, and many masks are just for fashionable use. After the SARS outbreak in 2002, masks became part of Asian clothing.

Answer: In order to prevent the spread of virus

"Shelter-at-Home" is ordering people to stay at home to slow down the virus transmission in case of pandemics. Although the "lockdown" has an impact on people's lives, their businesses and their jobs, it is a way to prevent too many people from getting sick at the same time, overloading the medical service.

The fewer people having contact with each other in person, the less the risk of viral transmission.

Answer: True

"Work at Home" or "Work from Home", whose acronym is WFH, became possible with the advent of the Internet, which allows tasks to be performed remotely. This practice has become common over the years worldwide and had a great boost in 2020, due the pandemic caused by the COVID-19, as governments implemented measures of social distancing, to prevent the spread of the virus.

This is a practice which tends to increase and persist as there are many mechanisms that facilitate online work, meetings and also because of the possibility of reducing companies' costs. Remote work can have a great social impact.

Answer: The name of a software service used for video and audio conferencing

"Zoom" refers to a software platform and service, created by the American company Zoom Vídeo Communications, Inc., which allows video and audio conferences. It is easy to install and use, being used in offices, conferences, huddles, training rooms, classrooms and family reunions. With the pandemic in 2020 and the need for people to stay home, there was an explosion in the use of online conferencing for social, business, educational and family purposes.