The coronavirus pandemic is a historic health crisis that has affected Lebanon and every other country around the world. Unfortunately, Lebanon was already in a recession when Covid-19 further paralyzed the economy and shuttered campuses of schools and universities across the country. Early in the pandemic, the Lebanese government announced a plan called Al-Ta‘be’a Al-A‘meh to control the virus’s spread and implemented a set of measures similar to a state of emergency. Join Mariam in this episode as she tells us more about life in the time of coronavirus.
Lebanese Arabic Transcript and English Contextual Translation
1
مع نهاية سنة 2019، كنا على موعد بكوكب الأرض مع ظهور مرض معدي وسريع الانتشار انعرف بين الناس باسم فايروس كورونا المستجد أو كوفيد 19. معدي، يعني مرض بينتقل من شخص لآخر بعدة طرق حسب الفايروس ونوعو. ومستجد يعني جديد. بالبداية، كان خبر بعيد. فايروس عم ينتشر بالصين وما إلنا علاقة مباشرة فيه، بس كان فيه تخوفات من إنو يضهر من الصين، ويبلش ينتشر حول العالم ونواجه عالمياً نسبة عالية كتير من الإصابات والوفيات. يعني بكلمة تانية، يصير وباء.
By the end of the year 2019, we were on a date on planet earth with the emergence of a fast spreading infectious disease that was known among people by the name Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19. Mo‘deh means a disease that is transmitted from one person to another through several ways depending on the virus and its type. Mostajed means new/novel. In the beginning, it was a faraway news. A virus spreading in China, and we do not have a direct relation with it. But there were fears that it would leave China and start to spread around the world; and to face globally a very high rate of infections and fatalities. In other words, that it becomes an epidemic.
2
الخبر بضل خبر وقصة منحكي فيا عالسريع، ومنتجاوزا، لحد ما فجأة يصير الموضوع شخصي وقريب، والخطر يصير حقيقي. وهيك مع نهاية شهر شباط 2020، نهاية يعني آخر، بلش يعلن عن أول إصابات بالفايروس ظهرت بلبنان. الموضوع كان بعدو عنشرة الأخبار، عدد قليل من الحالات وفحوصات للمخالطين إلن.
News remain news and a story we speak about rapidly and get past, until suddenly, the matter becomes personal and close, and the danger becomes real. Thus, with the end of February 2020 (Neheye means end), the first virus infections appearing in Lebanon started to be announced. The matter was still on news reports, few cases and tests for close contacts.