VOA慢速英语2020 新冠病毒席卷美国小城市 口罩争议愈演愈烈（在线收听）

Around the United States, arguments over mask requirements and other coronavirus-related restrictions have turned ugly.

美国各地对戴口罩要求和其它新冠病毒相关禁令的争吵已经愈演愈烈。

The deadly virus is spreading to small cities that once seemed safe from an outbreak. Some Americans, however, have not accepted the need to wear a mask.

这种致命病毒正向那些一度看起来很安全的小城市扩散。但是，一些美国人不认可戴口罩的必要性。

In Boise, Idaho, public health officials were planning to vote on a mask requirement measure. But they had to quickly end their meeting because of fears for their safety.

在爱达荷州博伊西市，公共卫生官员正计划对要求戴口罩的提案进行投票。但是由于担心自身安全，他们不得不很快结束了会议。

Anti-mask protesters had gathered outside the building and even at the homes of officials.

反对戴口罩的抗议者聚集在大楼外，甚至是有关官员的家门口。

One health board member cried as she announced she had to go home to be with her child because of the protesters. They were outside her home playing a recording of gunfire.

一名健康委员会委员哭着宣布，因为抗议者，她必须要回家跟孩子呆在一起。抗议者在她家门面播放枪声的录音。

"I am sad. I am tired. I fear that, in my choosing to hold public office, my family has too often paid the price," said Ada County Commissioner Diana Lachiondo.

阿达县专员戴安娜·拉奇安多表示：“我很难过，我累了，我担心在我选择担任公职之后，我的家人会经常为此付出代价。”

"There is an ugliness and cruelty in our national rhetoric that is reaching a fevered pitch here at home, and that should worry us all," Lachiondo added.

拉奇安多还说：“我们国家的舆论中有一种丑陋和残酷，在国内已经达到狂热程度，这应该让所有人感到担心。”

Boise police said they arrested three protesters at her home.

博伊西市警方表示，他们在她家逮捕了3名抗议者。

In South Dakota, the mayor of Rapid City said City Council officials were threatened over plans for a citywide mask requirement. The law did not pass. Hospitals across the state are filled with COVID-19 patients.

南达科他州拉皮德城的市长表示，市议会官员因为计划要求全市戴口罩而受到了威胁。该法案没有通过。全州的医院都住满了新冠肺炎患者。

The United States recorded over 3,000 deaths on December 9, reported the COVID Tracking Project. That marked a single-day record. New cases each day have risen to an average of more than 200,000. The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 reached nearly 105,000 on December 8, an all-time high.

据新冠肺炎追踪项目报告称，美国在12月9日录得了3000多例死亡病例。这标志着美国新冠肺炎的单日死亡记录。每日新增病例已经上升到日均20万例以上。12月8日新冠肺炎住院患者人数达到了近10.5万人，创下历史新高。

At the same time, protesters in Montana's Gallatin County have gathered for two weeks outside the home of county health officer Matt Kelley. The protesters are against new requirements, including a statewide requirement to wear a mask. They have carried signs reading, "We refuse to be your experiment."

与此同时，蒙大拿州加勒廷县的抗议者在县卫生官员马特·凯利家门外聚集了两个星期。抗议者反对包括要求全州佩戴口罩在内的各项新规。他们举着写有“我们拒绝成为你的实验品”的标语。

Last week, around 80 people lined Bozeman's Main Street to support Kelley and other health officials.

上周，大约有80人在博兹曼市的主要大街上排成一列，支持凯利和其他卫生官员。

In Montana's Flathead County, officials recorded 17 coronavirus-related deaths over 18 days. Yet resistance to masks is strong. One public health official there is resigning at the end of the year. She said there was little support from local officials for actions that would control the spread.

在蒙大拿州弗拉特黑德县，官员们在18天内录得了17例与新冠病毒相关的死亡案例。然而戴口罩的阻力仍然很强。当地一名卫生官员将于年底辞职。她说地方官员几乎没有采取行动来控制疫情蔓延。

In Helena, the capital of Montana, Republicans control the legislature. They denied a request by Democratic lawmakers to require that masks be worn inside their own building.

在蒙大拿州首府海伦娜市，共和党人控制着议会。他们拒绝了民主党人议员提出的在议会大厦内戴口罩的要求。

In the American state of Missouri, Greene County officials recorded 51 COVID-19 deaths in the first eight days of December. Hospitals are full and hundreds of health care workers are quarantined. The area's two major hospitals asked the city of Springfield to renew the city's mask requirement before it ends in January. Neither the state nor the county has a mask requirement.

在美国密苏里州，格林县官员在12月的前八天录得了51例新冠肺炎死亡案例。医院人满为患，数百名医护人员被隔离。该地区的两家主要医院要求斯普林菲尔德市在戴口罩规定于1月底到期前将其延长。州和县一级都没有戴口罩的要求。

As the deaths increase, Springfield Mortuary Services owner Brian Simmons is caring for the dead as his own 48-year-old daughter battles the virus. Simmons' daughter spent the past week hospitalized on a ventilator in one of the city's nearly full hospitals.

随着死亡人数的增加，斯普林菲尔德市太平间老板布莱恩·西蒙斯正在照顾死者，同时他48岁的女儿正在跟这种病毒作斗争。西蒙斯的女儿上周在该市一家几乎住满患者的医院用上了呼吸机。

"You are just helpless," he said. "There is nothing you can do about it. We haven't seen her since she's gone in."

他说：“我很无助，我对此无能为力。自从她住进去之后，我们再也没见过她。”

The state of South Dakota has suffered through the country's worst rate of COVID-19 deaths over the last week. But Governor Kristi Noem has continued to refuse to require masks or to use other strong measures to slow the infection's spread.

南达科他州过去一周遭遇了美国最高的新冠肺炎死亡率。但是州长克里斯蒂·诺姆仍然拒绝要求戴口罩或是采用其它有力措施减缓疫情。

Hospitals in South Dakota are in crisis and patients are being flown out of the state to get treatment.

南达科他州的医院正处于危机之中，患者被空运到其它州接受治疗。

Dr. Stephen Neabore works in the biggest hospital system in the area. He said that trying to tell people they must wear masks has been a frustrating process.

斯蒂芬·尼伯尔博士在该地区最大的医院系统工作。他说，试图说服人们他们必须戴口罩是一个令人诅丧的过程。

He said, "I still see people out here that will tell me they don't believe it's any worse than a common cold."

他说：“我仍然看到外面有人会告诉我，他们不相信新冠肺炎比普通感冒更严重。”