World News for Students of English

21-12-2021 07:00

In December 2019, scientists found a mysterious virus in Wuhan, China. A virus is a type of illness. At that time, nobody knew that the COVID-19 pandemic had just started.

Health officials did not worry too much because they did not think that the virus would move throughout the world. But in January 2020, COVID-19 made people sick in Europe and in the US.

People started to panic, and it was very difficult to buy normal things like toilet paper. Scientists knew very little about the virus, and doctors did not know how to help people with it. Hospitals were full of COVID-19 patients, and many of them died.

In December 2020, scientists created three vaccines, and the situation finally started to change. A vaccine is a medicine to help you fight an illness. There were several waves of people getting sick since 2019, and in many countries, there is a new wave now. Interestingly, the patients in hospitals now are mostly people who did not get a vaccine.

Difficult words: mysterious (difficult to explain or understand), panic (to suddenly feel very worried or frightened), wave (a big increase in a number).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.