华盛顿邮报 美国秋季新冠卷土重来(1)

 

    In the past few weeks, I've suddenly got people in different corners of my life saying, "I've tested positive for COVID" or "My kid has tested positive for COVID."过去几周，围绕在我生活各个角落的人突然说：“我的新冠病毒检测结果呈阳性”，或者“我孩子的新冠病毒检测结果呈阳性。”

    And the more people that I'm talking to, it feels like, "Oh. Are we seeing COVID rise again?"和我聊的人越多，就会感觉说，“哦。我们是否会看到新冠卷土重来？”

    It sounds all, like, anecdotal and unscientific, but I have heard from experts saying like, "This is actually a good indication that COVID is on the rise."这听起来像是传闻，没有科学依据，但我听到专家说，“这实际上是一个表明新冠病例在上升的好迹象。”

    That's Fenit Nirappil, a health reporter for The Post.

    这是《华盛顿邮报》的健康记者芬尼特·尼拉皮尔。

    He's been covering this recent uptick in COVID cases and a small-but-notable rise in hospitalizations.

    他一直在报道关于最近新冠病例小幅增加以及新冠住院人数虽小幅增长但却引人注目的新闻。

    After months of decline, numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that reported cases and hospitalizations are on the rise.

    美国疾病控制与预防中心的数据显示，在经历数月下降后，报告的新冠病例以及住院人数正在上升。

    A summer wave of COVID ramping¹ up.

    夏季的新冠浪潮正在加剧。

    Now, the virus is far less deadly, but the timing² comes right as kids and teachers head back to school.

    现在，这种病毒的致命性要小得多，但随着孩子们和老师们返校，这种病毒的传播时机也正好到来。

    Fenit says that this increase in COVID is probably due to a few things. There's a new variant³ around called EG.5.

    芬尼特说，新冠人数增多可能是由一种叫做EG.5的新病毒变体导致的。

    People are traveling more because, you know, summer.

    人们旅游更频繁了，因为放暑假了。

    And the extreme heat that a lot of the United States has been experiencing recently is keeping people indoors, which can make COVID spread.

    美国最近许多地区经历的极端高温让人们呆在室内，这可能会让新冠传播。

    So, if you're the kind of person who takes more COVID precautions when you see COVID rising in your community, this is the time to do that.

    如果你是那种看到社区新冠人数增加就会采取很多预防措施的人，那么，现在是时候采取预防措施了。

    Today, what you need to know about COVID boosters, the new variant, and how to protect people most at risk.

    今天，你需要了解关于新冠加强针、新变异毒株以及如何保护高危人群的信息。

    Plus, what the fall season of other respiratory viruses, like the flu, might look like.

    另外，还需要了解秋季流感等其他呼吸道病毒可能是什么症状。

    So, Fenit, the federal government officially ended the COVID emergency, but it seems like there's an uptick of cases. What are transmission rates these days?

    芬尼特，联邦政府正式结束了新冠紧急状态，但似乎病例有所增加。现在新冠的传播率是多少?

    So, we don't really have good data on transmission rates anymore.

    我们不再有关于新冠传播率的准确数据了。

    So, the public-health emergency ended in May, but that didn't mean that COVID is over or COVID is gone.

    公共卫生紧急状态于5月结束，但这并不意味着新冠已经结束或消失。

    What's catching⁴ attention right now is that the hospitalizations are going up and emergency-room visits are going up.

    现在引起人们注意的是住院人数在上升，急诊室就诊人数也在上升。

    People who are listening to this probably have been hearing about people getting sick in the last month.

    正在听这篇报道的人们可能已经听说上个月有人生病了。

    And some of the experts that I talked to actually say that, "You know, it's not as unscientific as it sounds. If you just are hearing about more people getting COVID in your social circles, that's probably a good sign that there's more COVID out there."我采访过的一些专家实际上说，“这不像听起来的那样反科学。如果你听说你的社交圈里有很多人感染了新冠，这可能表明那里有很多新冠病例。”

1 ramping   

土堤斜坡( ramp的现在分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• The children love ramping about in the garden. 孩子们喜欢在花园里追逐嬉戏，闹着玩。
• Have you ever seen a lion ramping around? 你看到过狮子暴跳吗？

2 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

3 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

4 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。