This article explores the concepts of equivalence and translatability as they relate to the translation of COVID-19texts from English into Shona. First, the article investigates whether equivalence and non-equivalence are usefulconcepts in explaining translatability and untranslatability of technical texts. Secondly, the article explores howgeneralist professional translators can handle certain types of technical texts and then examines whether certaintexts, for example those related to COVID-19, require technical translators with specialist expertise. Finally, thearticle suggests some of the language resources which translators could use with flexibility, depending on thetranslation situation, when faced with instances of untranslatability during their work. Through careful analyses ofevidence and examples of equivalence and non-equivalence in the process of translating from English into Shona,the article argues that if equivalence is an important aspect of translation, non-equivalence constitutes an equallyimportant concept in the translation process. The rationale for this position is that different languages articulateand organise the world differently because languages do not simply name existing categories, they articulatetheir own. English and Shona belong to different cultures and, hence, provide good evidence for the possibility oftranslating what is sometimes referred to as untranslatable due to lack of equivalence.

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