美国国家公共电台 NPR China's Wuhan Lockdown To Contain Coronavirus Comes In For Cr

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

It's too early to declare the outbreak of a new coronavirus in China an international health emergency. That's according to the World Health Organization. The decision was made after an extraordinary two-day meeting by a panel of experts. At a press conference in Geneva, the director-general of the WHO explained that most of the hundreds of people who've been infected so far are in China. But he also had this to say.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS: Make no mistake, this is an emergency in China. It has not yet become a global health emergency. It may yet become one.

SHAPIRO: Officials have shut down transportation out of the city of 11 million people where the virus first emerged, Wuhan. NPR's global health correspondent Nurith Aizenman is here in the studio.

Hi, Nurith.

NURITH AIZENMAN, BYLINE¹: Hi, Ari.

SHAPIRO: Tell us more about this transportation shutdown in Wuhan. How is it playing out?

AIZENMAN: Yeah. So this is basically the equivalent of locking down Chicago two days before Thanksgiving. It's hard to overstate how drastic a step this is. I mean, Wuhan is a city of 11 million people. It's the transportation hub of central China.

And Chinese authorities have now suspended subways, buses, trains, flights. And they're doing this at a time when literally² tens of millions of people are on the move within China as families gather to celebrate a major holiday there, the Lunar New Year. Also, it's possible we're going to see more of these shutdowns because today they've announced similar restrictions³ in two other cities.

SHAPIRO: And does the World Health Organization support these moves? I know there's been some criticism.

AIZENMAN: Yeah. A number of public health experts that I've spoken to say this is a terrible idea. It could cause panic, drive people underground, basically backfire. Also, the virus has now spread beyond Wuhan to lots of other cities in China. So it's kind of like closing the barn door after the horse has bolted.

Now, when I asked the WHO's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, about it, he was diplomatic. He stressed that this is China's right. But he also signaled that this is not the WHO's recommendation. He noted⁴ that the WHO's role is to provide, quote, "rational science-based public health guidance." And he said he hopes that this measure by China is, quote, "short in duration." Also, this decision by China really threw a wrench⁵ into the WHO's deliberations about whether to declare this outbreak a global emergency.

SHAPIRO: Describe what the implications of that declaration would be. Why does it matter whether WHO says this is a global health emergency?

AIZENMAN: So when the WHO declares an international health emergency, it's really a way for them to give expert recommendations on how countries and people can protect themselves. But it's a big deal. It can carry a lot of weight in terms of galvanizing action by countries. It's only been declared for a handful of prior epidemics⁶. And this panel of experts was in the middle of meeting on the issue Wednesday when China blindsided them with a decision to shut down transportation in Wuhan.

It's such an unusual step that the chair of that advisory⁷ committee says, right before they were about to make the decision, they had to stop to get more information. They were wondering, you know, is this based on some dramatic change in the way the disease is spreading? Essentially⁸, is there something China is not telling us? Then, this morning, he says China was able to reassure⁹ them that, no, that's not the case.

SHAPIRO: So as of now, the WHO says this is not a global health emergency. Have they said what might push it to that level?

AIZENMAN: Yeah. I mean, the things that Tedros pointed¹⁰ to were that even though the virus is spreading right now, that appears to be mostly within family groups or health workers - in other words, people who've had really close contact with someone who is sick. At this time, they're not seeing the kind of spread you would get with, say, a virus like the flu, where people are passing it on to strangers on, say, the subway.

Similarly, while travelers from China have shown up in other countries with the virus, including in the United States, that hasn't started new chains of transmission in those other countries. Also, so far, there haven't been that many deaths. But if any of those things change, then that would really escalate¹¹ the alarm level. And, you know, the evidence is still coming in. This is still very much a situation in progress. And there are a lot of unanswered questions.

SHAPIRO: That is NPR global health correspondent Nurith Aizenman with the latest on the coronavirus out of China.

Thanks, Nurith.

AIZENMAN: Glad to do it.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 wrench   

v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受

参考例句：

• He gave a wrench to his ankle when he jumped down.他跳下去的时候扭伤了足踝。
• It was a wrench to leave the old home.离开这个老家非常痛苦。

6 epidemics   

n．流行病

参考例句：

• Reliance upon natural epidemics may be both time-consuming and misleading. 依靠天然的流行既浪费时间，又会引入歧途。
• The antibiotic epidemics usually start stop when the summer rainy season begins. 传染病通常会在夏天的雨季停止传播。

7 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

10 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

11 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。