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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
News brief: isolation1 guidelines, sedition2 hunters, Theranos whistleblower
The CDC says a test to get out of COVID isolation is not needed. Amateur sleuths help to track down Jan. 6 rioters. Elizabeth Holmes' fraud conviction wouldn't have happened without whistleblowers.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
When the CDC announced last week that it was revising recommended isolation times for COVID-positive patients from 10 days to five days, there was no mention of a testing requirement.
A MARTINEZ, HOST:
And that decision drew criticism from health experts for being too lax and confusing. But the CDC is holding firm. Updated guidance from the agency last night maintained that a negative test is not needed for people who are fever free and whose symptoms have improved. Now, all this comes amid a massive omicron surge and rapid testing shortages.
MARTIN: NPR health correspondent Rob Stein is with us this morning. Hey, Rob.
ROB STEIN, BYLINE4: Good morning, Rachel.
MARTIN: So as A said, the CDC drew a lot of criticism for not putting in place a testing requirement. How's the agency...
STEIN: Right.
MARTIN: ...Justifying5 this choice?
STEIN: Yeah. So as you remember, last week, the agency shortened how long infected people have to isolate6 from 10 days to five as long as they wear a good mask for another five days. But they don't have to test negative to go back out into the world. Critics called the policy reckless, especially with omicron surging. And both Dr. Anthony Fauci and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy strongly hinted over the last few days that the agency would revise the guidelines. Instead, the agency, last night, essentially7 just reiterated8 the new guidelines, saying people can test if they want to, but don't have to. And the agency also added some additional explanation, saying tests after five days aren't reliable. But, you know, critics strongly dispute that.
MARTIN: So meanwhile, omicron still moving along...
STEIN: Yeah.
MARTIN: ...Still infecting all kinds of folks. Just give us the big picture right now.
STEIN: Yeah. You know, everybody feared this surge would be off the charts, and it is. According to the Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. recorded more than 1 million new infections on Monday. Now, some of that big number is because of delays in reporting over the holidays. But it still underscores how unbelievably fast this surge has soared. And that came on the same day that the CDC released a new estimate for how quickly the super contagious9 omicron variant10 has taken over in this country. The CDC estimates the omicron variant accounts for more than 95% of all new infections and as many as more than 98% in some parts of the country.
MARTIN: So Rob, do we get to a point where so many people have had this thing that the variant doesn't have anywhere else to go?
STEIN: Well, you know, a new projection11 just came out from this COVID-19 Scenario12 Modeling Hub. And that synthesizes computer modeling from around the country for the CDC. The researchers stress that there's still a lot of uncertainty13 about how bad things could get, but they're pretty confident about one thing. The eye-popping trajectory14 of this surge is still accelerating. And because so many people are catching15 omicron so fast all at once, we haven't seen the worst of it yet, even if omicron tends to be somewhat milder. I talked about this with Justin Lessler at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He helps run the modeling hub.
JUSTIN LESSLER: Even fairly moderate hospitalization rates are going to result in pretty high levels of hospitalization nationwide and severely16 stress our health care systems. Personally, I'm preparing myself for a dark January.
STEIN: The new analysis estimates that by the middle of March, as many as 822,000 more people will get hospitalized with COVID-19, and as many as 104,000 more people will die from the disease.
MARTIN: But Rob, I keep reading that things in South Africa, where omicron was first detected, that things there have actually gotten better. Doesn't that portend17 good news?
STEIN: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, the good news is that the surge is hitting so ferociously18, it could very well peak relatively19 quickly, just like, you know, it did in South Africa. It looks like it is in January. So maybe by the end of January, things could start to calm down.
MARTIN: Let's hold on to that, shall we?
STEIN: Yeah.
MARTIN: NPR health correspondent Rob Stein. We appreciate you, Rob. Thank you.
STEIN: Sure thing, Rachel.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MARTIN: OK. The FBI has spent the last year trying to track down the hundreds, possibly thousands, of rioters who breached20 the U.S. Capitol last January.
MARTINEZ: But there is another unofficial effort underway working toward the same goal. Groups of amateur detectives, volunteers known as sedition hunters, have been scouring21 social media platforms over the last year to try to identify people who participated in last year's insurrection.
MARTIN: NPR's Odette Yousef has been talking to some of them, and she joins us now. Good morning, Odette.
ODETTE YOUSEF, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: Who exactly are these folks, these so-called sedition hunters?
YOUSEF: Well, Rachel, in the beginning, it seemed like they were anybody with a laptop, a free hour and some outrage22 over what they witnessed on live television last January 6. But over the last year, they've organized into a really interesting, loose-knit community online that uses publicly available resources, like Twitter, Parler, video platforms and other social media to gather information and to match faces to names. And they're believed to have helped identify hundreds of people involved in the riot.
MARTIN: You've spoken with some of them. Can you introduce us?
YOUSEF: Sure. One who spoke23 on the record is Forrest Rogers. He's a German American living in Switzerland. He joined up with a small crew in the days after the riot, and quickly, the crew settled on one individual that they had seen in Twitter videos who had drawn24 interest because she seemed to know a lot about getting around in the Capitol building.
FORREST ROGERS: One of the people we were working on at the time was Bullhorn Lady, or Pink Hat Lady.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
RACHEL POWELL: ...Coordinate25 together if you're going to take this building.
YOUSEF: So Rachel, Rogers' group combed through images and videos posted that day. When they spotted26 this woman with the pink hat, they shared those images on Twitter and asked the public for tips. And less than two weeks after they started investigating her, Rogers' group had identified Rachel Powell. They sent that information to the FBI, and Powell was arrested a few weeks later.
MARTIN: Wow. So you characterize them as a loose-knit community. But I mean, are they a united front in this effort?
YOUSEF: Well, you know, the ways that they've organized and maintained confidentiality27 around their investigations28 have really been notable. But over the last 12 months, it's also been interesting to see that, you know, there are some differences within this community over, say, questions like whom they should investigate. You know, should they look into anybody who trespassed29 into restricted areas, or should they focus on those who committed acts of violence? Another maybe surprising area of difference is this question of what to do with people they've identified. For Forrest Rogers, it was always about gathering30 information to send to the FBI to help build cases against participants. But there are other sedition hunters who don't believe in working with law enforcement. So instead of sending information to authorities, they'll send it to a journalist.
MARTIN: So is there a way to measure what kind of differences this group, loosely affiliated31, has made?
YOUSEF: Well, the FBI estimates 2,000 people were involved that day, Rachel. And so far, over 700 have faced charges. I spoke with Ryan Reilly, a journalist at HuffPost. He says the FBI hasn't been able to keep up with the tips that sedition hunters have sent in, so we may still see a very long tail to their work.
RYAN REILLY: This is going to unfold, I would say, at least over the next - I would say definitely well into 2024, we're still going to be seeing new cases.
MARTIN: NPR's Odette Yousef, thank you so much.
YOUSEF: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MARTIN: This week's conviction of Elizabeth Holmes, the former CEO of Theranos, would have never happened without whistleblowers like Tyler Shultz.
MARTINEZ: Yeah. Tyler was fresh out of Stanford University with a biology degree when he started working for Holmes in 2013. Now, he eventually learned the machine that was supposed to scan blood droplets32 for disease just did not work. In 2014, under an alias33, Tyler reported his misgivings34 to New York Department of Health regulators. Now, in the process, he became estranged35 from his grandfather, the late George Shultz, former secretary of state, who at the time was a board member of Theranos.
MARTIN: We've got NPR tech reporter Bobby Allyn with us. Bobby, you talked to Tyler Shultz. What did he tell you about the tipping point for him? When - what did he see that eventually compelled him to alert authorities?
BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE: Yeah. So before we go there, I mean, I should say he was really inspired by Elizabeth Holmes when he first met her. I mean, he was a biology major at Stanford. And the idea of disrupting blood testing by making it faster, easier and more painless than ever before just really appealed to him. But like you said, he saw some red flags pretty quickly. And the first one was, you know, Theranos was doing these quality control inspections36 that were mandatory37. Theranos would roll out these big Siemens commercially available blood analyzer machines, not Elizabeth Holmes' miracle device. That seemed weird38 because they were using the so-called miracle device known as the Edison on patients.
The second problem Tyler noticed is when he actually looked inside of the Edison itself, he realized there was nothing innovative39 about it at all. I mean, you know, the promises that Elizabeth Holmes was making that it could scan for hundreds of conditions with a tiny little pinprick of blood, that just could not be fulfilled with this technology. I talked to Shultz about this.
TYLER SHULTZ: It was clear that there was an open secret within Theranos that this technology simply did not exist.
MARTIN: And the decision to blow the whistle - I mean, this affected40 his life, right?
ALLYN: He said it was a nightmare. Holmes hired private investigators41 to go after him. She hired lawyers to intimidate42 him. He became socially isolated43. He was living in constant fear, Rachel - really sounds miserable44. And you know, he had to confront his grandfather, the, you know, former secretary of state, George Shultz, by telling him, this woman you believe so much in, this person who you recruited all of your friends to back, she's a liar45, and she cannot be trusted. And it didn't go over so well.
SHULTZ: He didn't believe me. He said Elizabeth has assured me that they go above and beyond all regulatory standards. I think you're wrong is what he told me.
MARTIN: Wow. So what does Tyler Shultz think about Elizabeth Holmes' conviction now?
ALLYN: Yeah, he sees this as a moment of vindication46. I mean, he wasn't the only whistleblower at the company. There were others. But, you know, he was the first to file a complaint to regulators. So that was a bold and risky47 move. And you know, he told me when he saw that the jury had convicted Holmes of four fraud-related charges, he met up with his family and popped a bottle of Champagne48 because, I mean, this Theranos saga49 has been involved in his life for more than a decade. So he's, you know, more than eager to have some closure here.
MARTIN: So what has been the main takeaway for Tyler Shultz from Holmes' downfall?
ALLYN: Yeah, he's done a lot of self-reflection, and it's interesting because he himself now is a startup founder50. He runs a little biotech company out in the San Francisco Bay Area. And you know, now he's pitching investors51. He's finding himself making exaggerated claims about his goals, much like his old boss Elizabeth Holmes. And you know, investors are telling him, we're going to be totally done with you if you can't double in size in a year. And he told me - and look, Rachel, I thought this was really powerful - he could really see how this cutthroat culture gave rise to Elizabeth Holmes. So you know, that's to say Shultz is not overly optimistic that this single jury verdict is going to radically52 change how business is done out here in Silicon53 Valley.
MARTIN: NPR tech reporter Bobby Allyn. Bobby, thank you.
ALLYN: Thanks, Rachel.
收听单词发音 |
1
isolation
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| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
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sedition
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| n.煽动叛乱 | |
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transcript
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| n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书 | |
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byline
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| n.署名；v.署名 | |
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justifying
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| 证明…有理( justify的现在分词 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护） | |
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isolate
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| vt.使孤立，隔离 | |
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essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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reiterated
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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contagious
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| adj.传染性的，有感染力的 | |
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variant
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| adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体 | |
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projection
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| n.发射，计划，突出部分 | |
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scenario
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| n.剧本，脚本；概要 | |
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uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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trajectory
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| n.弹道，轨道 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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portend
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| v.预兆，预示；给…以警告 | |
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ferociously
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| 野蛮地，残忍地 | |
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relatively
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| adv.比较...地，相对地 | |
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breached
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| 攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反 | |
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scouring
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| 擦[洗]净，冲刷，洗涤 | |
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outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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coordinate
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| adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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confidentiality
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| n.秘而不宣，保密 | |
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investigations
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| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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trespassed
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| （trespass的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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affiliated
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| adj. 附属的, 有关连的 | |
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32
droplets
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| n.小滴( droplet的名词复数 ) | |
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alias
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| n.化名；别名；adv.又名 | |
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misgivings
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
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estranged
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| adj.疏远的，分离的 | |
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inspections
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| n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅 | |
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mandatory
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| adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者 | |
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weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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innovative
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| adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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investigators
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| n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 ) | |
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42
intimidate
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| vt.恐吓，威胁 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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liar
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| n.说谎的人 | |
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vindication
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| n.洗冤，证实 | |
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risky
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| adj.有风险的，冒险的 | |
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champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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saga
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| n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇 | |
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Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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investors
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| n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 ) | |
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52
radically
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| ad.根本地，本质地 | |
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silicon
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| n.硅(旧名矽) | |
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