VOA慢速英语--"钻石公主"号乘客获准下船离开

Japanese health officials are permitting hundreds of people to leave a cruise¹ ship sitting in the port of Yokohama. The passengers and crew had been barred from leaving the ship for two weeks as part of efforts to contain the new coronavirus.

About 3,700 people were on the Diamond Princess when it arrived at the port on February 3. Officials ordered the ship and everyone on it placed under quarantine after one passenger was found to have the virus. That person had left the ship when it stopped in Hong Kong.

However, the Japanese effort to keep the coronavirus from spreading did not work as planned. Over 540 people on the Diamond Princess became infected. In fact, they are the largest group of people outside of China to get the virus.

Only people who have been tested and found to be free of the virus and who show no signs of infection are being permitted to leave the cruise ship.

About 300 Americans left on Monday. All were immediately placed under another 14-day quarantine to prevent spreading the virus.

Several governments, including Australia, Britain and Canada, are making plans to evacuate² their citizens from Yokohama.

Experts raise questions about ship quarantine

The Japanese government has defended the effectiveness of its quarantine. However, three Japanese officials who helped carry out the quarantine tests on the ship became infected.

Michael Ryan is a doctor and executive³ director of the World Health Organization's health emergencies program. He noted⁴, "There are sometimes environments in which disease⁵ can spread in a more efficient way." Cruise ships were known to sometimes speed up the spread of disease, he said.

Ryan added it is important for every nation with affected⁶ passengers to follow up on each person's health in the coming weeks.

Japan's health minister, Katsunobu Kato, told reporters Tuesday that all passengers who remained on the ship have been tested. He said those who are free of the virus would be released⁷ after their 14-day quarantine period ends.

Also Tuesday, United States health officials said they would take action on Americans who refused to return on government-provided flights over the weekend. Those Americans would not be permitted to re-enter the country for at least 14 days after they left the Diamond Princess.

Natalie MacDermott is a doctor and an expert on disease outbreaks at King's College London. She said the quarantine clearly did not work. She added that health experts need to know more about conditions on the ship because "there could also be another mode⁸ of transmission⁹ we're not familiar with."

Some passengers on the Diamond Princess described it as a "floating prison." However, they were permitted to walk outside the ship if they covered their face and kept away from others.

Paul Hunter is a doctor and a professor of medicine at East Anglia in England. He said it is possible that passengers did not obey all of the restrictions¹⁰. It was a "huge disappointment" that the quarantine had not stopped the spread of the virus, he said. Hunter added that an additional¹¹ quarantine for passengers when they return to their home countries would be a good idea. "Not to do so would be reckless¹²," he said.

Japanese health officials, however, say the 14-day quarantine on the ship should have been enough. They note that, of 500 Japanese who returned from China showing no signs of infection, all but one was found to be virus-free after a 14-day quarantine.

Shigeru Omi is a former official with the World Health Organization (WHO). He said quarantines are effective early in outbreaks. But he said attention should now go from border control to preventing the spread of the virus in local communities.

The WHO reports that, outside of China, there are over 800 cases in 25 countries.

Words in This Story

quarantine –v. to keep someone away from others in an effort to prevent a disease from spreading

evacuate –v. to remove people from a possibly dangerous situation

mode –n. a way of doing things

transmission –n. the process of spreading something

reckless –adj. not showing the correct concern about a possible bad effect

1 cruise   

v.巡航，航游，缓慢巡行；n.海上航游

参考例句：

• They went on a cruise to Tenerife.他们乘船去特纳利夫岛。
• She wants to cruise the canals of France in a barge.她想乘驳船游览法国的运河。

2 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

3 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

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 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

8 mode   

n.方式，样式，模式，风格，时兴；[音乐]调式

参考例句：

• Wearing jeans is out of mode at present.现在穿牛仔裤过时了。
• His mode of doing business is offensive to me.他干事情的方式叫我很不喜欢。

9 transmission   

n.播送，发射，传送，传递，传染

参考例句：

• When the transmission is good,foreign stations can be heard.在传送情况良好时，以收到外国电台。
• The letter was delayed in transmission.这封信在传递中被耽误了。

10 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

11 additional   

adj.添加的，额外的，另外的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to set down these additional rules.有必要制定这些补充规则。
• I think we can fit in an additional room.我想我们可以再加建一间房子。

12 reckless   

adj.粗心大意的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The policeman chewed out the driver for reckless driving.那位司机因为开车莽撞，被警察狠狠批评了一顿。
• He thought she was too reckless at it.他觉得她对它太粗心大意了。