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March 21, 2020
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Aruba’s ONLY English newspaper ruba’s ONLY English newspaper
In pandemic, word definitions shift and new lexicon emerges

By MATT SEDENSKY
PHILADELPHIA (AP) —
Newscasts bring word
of "hot zones" and "lock-
downs." Conversations are
littered with talk of "quar-
antines" and "isolation."
Leaders urge "social dis-
tancing" and "sheltering in
place" and "flattening the
curve."
In an instant, our vocabu-
lary has changed — just
like everything else.
It seems like just days since
people were looking up
"caucus" for clarity on the
American political process
or "acquit" to decode the
Senate's verdict in Presi-
dent Donald Trump's im-
peachment. Now, those
turning to online dictionar-
ies are parsing the differ-
ence between epidemics
and pandemics, ventila-
tors and respirators, seek-
ing some black-and-white
answers in the face of total
uncertainty.
“Words matter,” says John
Kelly, a senior research edi- In this Wednesday, March 18, 2020 file photo, a sign reminding people about "social distancing" in the midst of the COVID-19 coro-
navirus outbreak stands next to a roadway in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
tor at Dictionary.com. Associated Press
Continued on page 3

Imports of medical supplies plummet

as demand in U.S. soars

By MARTHA MENDOZA and tioning personal protective arrived from China about
JULIET LINDERMAN equipment like gloves and a month ago, on Feb. 19.
The critical shortage of masks. And as few as 13 shipments
medical supplies across The United States counts on of non-medical N95 masks
the U.S., including testing receiving the vast majority have arrived in the past
swabs, protective masks, of its medical supplies from month — half as many as
surgical gowns and hand China, where the coronavi- arrived the same month last
sanitizer, can be tied to a rus has infected more than year. N95 masks are used in
sudden drop in imports, 80,000 people and killed industrial settings, as well as
mostly from China, The As- more than 3,200. When hospitals, and filter out 95%
sociated Press has found. Chinese medical supply of all airborne particles, in-
Trade data shows the de- factories began coming cluding ones too tiny to be In this March 17, 2020, photo, Theresa Malijan, a registered
cline in shipments started in back on line last month, blocked by regular masks. nurse, has hand sanitizer applied on her hands after removing
her gloves after she took a nasopharyngeal swab from a pa-
mid-February after the spi- their first priority was their Governors across the coun- tient at a drive-through COVID-19 testing station for University of
raling coronavirus outbreak own hospitals. try are becoming panicked Washington Medicine patients in Seattle.
in China led the country to The government required as states run out of equip- Associated Press
shutter factories and dis- makers of N95 masks to sell ment. President Donald
rupted ports. Some emer- all or part of their produc- Trump has urged them to tection, more of our hospi- Foster, the American Hospi-
gency rooms, hospitals and tion internally instead of buy masks on the open tal staff could become ill, tal Association’s vice presi-
clinics in the U.S. have now shipping masks to the U.S. market, but few if any are which would mean there dent of quality and patient
run out of key medical sup- The most recent delivery of available. wouldn’t be people to care safety policy.
plies, while others are ra- medical-grade N95 masks “Without adequate pro- for patients,” said Nancy Continued on page 8