As Beijing, Shanghai and other cities in China are going through a wave of COVID infections, chances are you’re already ๐ (้ณ yรกng), positive.
If not – hang in there!
This week, we’ve prepared a list of medicine items that can help you relieve the COVID-19 symptoms.
๐ Why “Sheep”?
Before we begin, let’s clarify: what’s the deal with sheep?
Turns out that the word “positive” in Chinese sounds identical to the word “sheep” (็พ, yรกng):
้ณ
yรกng
positive +
And since being “positive” is a rather serious and unpleasant matter, in order to avoid any discomfort or discrimination against people who’ve tested positive, the Chinese internet has adopted a soft, cute nickname “sheep” to refer to them. It can come in a variety of shapes, forms and emojis:
๐ / โ็พโ / yรกng
COVID Symptoms + Medicine
NOTE
We are a Chinese language school, not doctors, but we want to help. Use this list for reference, but in case you’re feeling really bad and/or cannot find the medicine you need, go to the hospital. This is the most secure way to get the right medicine.
01. High Fever
The first covid symptom that might require medicine is high fever:
ๅ็ง
fฤshฤo
to have a fever
(lit. “to emit-heat”)
Antipyretics (general)
To reduce the fever, you’d want a medicine that can make the fever “retreat”:
้็ง่ฏ
tuรฌshฤoyร o
fever-reducing medicine; antipyretic
(lit. “to retreat-fever-medicine”)
The general recommendation is to take ้็ง่ฏ (tuรฌshฤoyร o) if the fever is higher than 38.5. Otherwise, it’s better to give your body a chance to fight the virus on its own.
Let’s look at the names of some common ้็ง่ฏ (tuรฌshฤoyร o).
Ibuprofen
ๅธๆด่ฌ
Bรน luรฒ fฤn
Ibuprofen
Paracetamol
ๅฏนไน้
ฐๆฐจๅบ้
Duรฌ yว xiฤn ฤn jฤซ fฤn
Paracetamol
ๆ็ญๆฏ็
Pลซ rรจ xฤซ tรฒng
Paracetamol (loan word)
02. Muscle Pain / Soreness
Another unpleasant symptom might be muscle pain:
ๆต่บซ็ผ / ๅ
จ่บซ็ผ
hรบnshฤn tรฉng / quรกnshฤn tรฉng
body pain
(lit. “all over-body-hurts”)
In case you experience it, there’s a drug that can relieve the pain:
ๅคๆนๆฐจ้
็ท่บ่ถๅ
Fรน fฤng ฤn fฤn wรกn ร n jiฤonรกng
Compound paracetamol and amantadine hydrochloride capsules
โ ๏ธ It’s not advised to take this drug together with paracetamol.
Besides this drug, ibuprofen and paracetamol can also help relieve the pain.
03. Runny / Stuffed Nose
One more unpleasant symptom can be a runny nose:
ๆต้ผปๆถ
liรบ bรญtรฌ
runny nose
(lit. “to flow-nose-mucus”)
Quite descriptive, isn’t it? In case you have it, these drops can help:
่ฅฟๆฟๅฉๅชๆปดๅ
Xฤซ tรฌ lรฌ qรญn dฤซjรฌ
Cetirizine drops
And in case you have a stuffy nose, or ้ผปๅก (bรญsรจ), this spray seems helpful:
็พ็ฒๅๅๅท้พๅ
Qiวng jiว zuรฒ lรญn pฤnwรนjรฌ
Oxymetazoline nasal spray
โ ๏ธ It’s not advised to use this spray for more than 7 days.
04. Sore Throat
Another common symptom is sore throat.
ๅๅญ็ผ
sวngzi tรฉng
to have a sore throat
(lit. “throat-hurts”)
ๅฝ็ yฤntรฒng โข sore throat (a bit more official)
ๅท้พๅ pฤnwรนjรฌ โข spray
One of the recommended sprays against it is:
ๅผๅๅๅท้พๅ
Kฤi hรณu jiร n pฤnwรนjรฌ
Kaihoujian spray
And there is a version of it for children, too:
ๅผๅๅๅท้พๅ๏ผๅฟ็ซฅๅ๏ผ
Kฤi hรณu jiร n pฤnwรนjรฌ (รฉrtรณng xรญng)
Kaihoujian spray (for children)
05. Cough
ๅณๅฝ
kรฉsou
to cough
ๆญขๅณ zhวkรฉ โข to relieve cough
ๅ็ฐ huร tรกn โข to reduce phlegm
ๅฃๆๆถฒ kวufรบyรจ โข oral liquid / syrup
To relieve cough, search for these cough syrups:
ๆ ่ฒๅฎๅฃๆๆถฒ
Huรฌ fฤi nรญng kวufรบyรจ
Huifeining oral liquid
็ฆๅฐๅฏๅฎๅฃๆๆถฒ
Fรบ ฤr kฤ dรฌng kวufรบyรจ
Forcodine oral liquid
To reduce phlegm, these pills might be helpful:
ๆฐจๆบด็ดข
ฤn xiรน suว
Ambroxol
06. Loss of Taste / Smell
Finally, one last common symptom is:
ๅคฑๅปๅณ่งๅๅ
่ง
shฤซqรน wรจijuรฉ hรฉ xiรนjuรฉ
loss of taste and smell
Unfortunately, doctors online say there is no medicine against that. These senses come back naturally within a few weeks.
Bonus
“Yin” and “Yang”
Have you noticed how similar the characters for “negative” and “positive” are?
้ด
yฤซn
negative –
้ณ
yรกng
positive +
In order not to confuse the two, you can remember that:
๐ ้ด – “negative” is “cold”, with a moon (ๆ) on the right;
โ๏ธ ้ณ + “positive” is “hot”, with a sun (ๆฅ) on the right.
TIP: If even that doesn’t help, remember that “negative” (้ด) is the one with tiny legs. You can still go to work/school/other public places if you’re negative.
Practice with Teachers
To discuss the most common medicine
with Chinese teachers,
book a free trial class with That’s Mandarin.
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