时代周刊:病毒刚刚来袭 美国农村就已放松警惕(3)

"Not in a million years did we think this was something we'd ever be dealing¹ with," says the town's mayor, Mary Jane Scott.

“万万没想到我们也会遇到这种情况，”该镇镇长玛丽·简·斯科特说。

"We didn't think (COVID-19) was going to be that big in rural Oklahoma."

“没想到俄克拉何马州农村地区的(新冠疫情)也会变得这么严重。”

The town quickly implemented² a curfew and a face-mask policy for all public spaces

据她透露，事后，该镇很快便推出了宵禁政策以及出入所有公共场所都需佩戴口罩的政策，

and as of May 4 had no evidence of new community spread, she says.

截至5月4日，该镇尚未出现证据表明疫情已经扩散到新的社区。

But much like the rest of the country,

问题是，和美国的很多地方一样，

rural areas are finding it hard to stay closed, especially as many feel the worst has passed.

农村地区也发现很难维持停工停产停学这一政策，尤其因为许多人都觉得最糟糕的时期已经过去了。

Crystal Miller³ was at her home in Lexington, Ky., making a pot of chili⁴ on the evening of March 6 when she got the call.

3月6日晚接到电话时，克里斯托·米勒正在肯塔基州列克星敦的家中处理盆中的辣椒。

As the director of the Wedco District Health Department in northcentral Kentucky,

作为肯塔基州中北部威德科区卫生局的主任，

she had been tracking the spread of the outbreak.

她一直在跟踪疫情的传播情况。

But she had not expected the state's first case would appear in Harrison County,

但她还是没有想到，肯塔基州的第一例新冠会出现在哈里森县

a rural region of 19,000 where cows outnumber people 2 to 1.

这个人口只有1.9万，牛的数量都比人的数量多出1倍的农村地区。

"I'll never forget that day," she says.

“我永远也忘不了那一天，”她说。

The county's residents instinctively⁵ reacted by social distancing, weeks before it became part of the national vocabulary.

随后，该县居民本能地开始了隔离，等到各地都注意到这座小县城时他们已经主动隔离了好几周了。

Schools shut, and people avoided large gatherings⁶ and limited their shopping trips.

学校停课，居民们也告别了大型集会，连出门购物次数都会克制。

The following day, "Nobody was in the parking lot of the Walmart," Miller said.

第二天，“沃尔玛的停车场就已经看不到人了，”米勒说。

But after more than seven weeks of closures and stay-at-home orders made the county a success story in containing the virus—

问题是，超七周的停工停产停学和居家隔离政策使得该县成了控制疫情的成功范例——

16 cases and no deaths—caution has given way to economic pressure.

16例确诊，0例死亡——之后，谨慎就开始让位于经济压力了。

"People want to do the right thing, but in this area of Kentucky people are frustrated⁷

“人们是想做正确的事，但肯塔基州这个地区的人已经开始有情绪了，

and are starting to think, 'Haven't we flattened⁸ the curve enough?'" Miller says.

大家已经开始问，‘我们把曲线拉得还不够平么？’“米勒说。

In some rural parts of the country, the push to reopen is snarled⁹ in politics.

在部分农村地区，重新开放的愿望甚至已经卷入政治纷争。

Idaho Republican Governor Brad Little issued a stay-at-home order on March 25.

爱达荷州的共和党州长布拉德·利特尔于3月25日发布了居家隔离命令。

By then, Blaine County, home to the Sun Valley ski resort, had become a coronavirus hot spot,

截至当时，太阳谷滑雪场所在的布莱恩县就已经成了新冠病毒的热点地区，

at one point exceeding the infection rates of New York City and shutting down the local hospital.

甚至一度超过纽约市的感染率，当地医院都关停了。

But it didn't take long for some of the state's antigovernment rural population to push back.

然而，没过多久，该州反政府的农村人口就发起了反击。

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

3 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

4 chili   

n.辣椒

参考例句：

• He helped himself to another two small spoonfuls of chili oil.他自己下手又加了两小勺辣椒油。
• It has chocolate,chili,and other spices.有巧克力粉，辣椒，和其他的调味品。

5 instinctively   

adv.本能地

参考例句：

• As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

7 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

9 snarled   

v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说

参考例句：

• The dog snarled at us. 狗朝我们低声吼叫。
• As I advanced towards the dog, It'snarled and struck at me. 我朝那条狗走去时，它狂吠着向我扑来。 来自《简明英汉词典》