纽约时报疫情下的屠宰场食品链最薄弱的环节(3)（打印版）

Before the plant closed this past week, the company had provided employees with face shields and masks

刚工厂已于上周停止加工，关闭之前，该公司已经在为员工提供面罩和口罩，

and installed plexiglass barriers in certain areas to separate employees.

还在部分区域安装了有机玻璃隔离栏，将员工与员工隔开。

But in reality, it may be difficult for any meat plant to accommodate social distancing and remain as profitable.

但事实是，任何一家工厂都很难在响应隔离政策的同时保持盈利。

Jobs with titles like "gut snatcher" require people to work closely, slicing open pigs and pulling out entrails.

比如，带有“内脏清理”等字眼的岗位就需要工人密切配合，因为需要把整猪破开，拽出里面的内脏。

"It is not going to be easy to get workers six feet apart," said Dr.William Schaffner,

“要让工人们保持6英尺（约2米）的距离不好弄啊，”

a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University's medical school.

范德比尔特大学医学院的传染病教授威廉·沙夫纳博士说道。

"If you space people out, you reduce productivity."

“让他们拉开距离，生产效率就会打折。”

Officials in the meat industry have also argued that South Dakota's decision to not issue a stay-at-home order may be contributing to the outbreak,

肉类行业的官员认为，南达科他州不发布居家隔离的决定可能促成了疫情的大爆发，

because it has left relatives and neighbors of plant employees free to mingle.

因为这一决定导致（疫情爆发后）工厂员工的亲属和邻居仍在自由走动。

South Dakota officials have said residents should exercise "personal responsibility" and practice social distancing.

南达科他州官员曾表示，居民应该履行“个人责任”，自行隔离。

"That's a very, very high rate," Dr.Schaffner said of the infections at the Smithfield plant.

“他们的感染比例算是非常非常高的，”沙夫纳博士在谈到史密斯菲尔德工厂的感染情况时说。

"But it's difficult to know how much of the transmission occurred in the workplace or in the community."

“但你很难明确有多少是在工厂感染的，有多少是在社区感染的。”

Some meat companies have expressed reluctance to test workers,

一些肉类加工企业表示不愿对员工进行测试，

saying such targeted testing creates the false impression that meat plants are the main culprits for the spread of the virus.

声称这种有针对性的检测会给人留下一种错误的印象，让大家以为工厂才是病毒扩散的主要罪魁祸首。

The more aggressively employees are tested,

对员工的检测越严格，

the more cases emerge, putting pressure on plants to shut down.

检测出的病例就会越多，工厂停工的压力就会更大。

"Everybody wants to test meatpacking employees,

“所有人都想让肉类加工场的员工接受检测，

but nobody is testing the communities around them to show what's the baseline,"

却没有一个人检测他们身边的社区，表明自己的底线，”

said Steve Stouffer, the president of the fresh meats division at Tyson Foods.

泰森食品公司鲜肉部经理史蒂夫·斯托弗说道。

"And until we know the baselines, my question has always been:

“底线得到明确之前，我想问的是：

Are we the cause or are we just the victim of our surroundings?"

我们究竟是（病毒传播的）罪魁祸首，还是，我们不过是周围环境的受害者？”