The new hotspots

新熱點(diǎn)

Curbing the covid-19 comeback in Europe

雖然對(duì)新冠病毒采取遏制措施但是其在歐洲卷土重來(lái)

Young people are flouting the rules

年輕人在藐視這些規(guī)定

?

Aug 1st 2020 |

THE WAVES of an epidemic tend to rise like a tsunami—slowly, almost surreptitiously, before a precipitous surge. In parts of Europe there are now fears that covid-19 cases may again be nearing a menacing inflection point. In Spain, daily new cases in the week to July 28th have risen sharply to nearly ten times the low they had descended to in June, when the lockdown was lifted. Less dramatic but worrying increases in cases are starting to bubble up in other European countries.

流行病的浪潮往往會(huì)像海嘯一樣上升——在陡然上升之前，緩慢地，幾乎是偷偷摸摸地（增長(zhǎng)）。在歐洲部分地區(qū)，現(xiàn)在（人們）擔(dān)心covid-19病例可能再次接近一個(gè)危險(xiǎn)的拐點(diǎn)。在西班牙，截至7月28日的一周內(nèi)，每天的新病例急劇上升，幾乎是6月解除封鎖時(shí)所降最低水平的10倍。其他歐洲國(guó)家的病例增長(zhǎng)雖然不那么引人注目，但卻令人擔(dān)憂。

詞匯

Tsunami/海嘯

Surreptitiously/偷偷地；秘密地；不正當(dāng)?shù)?/p>

Precipitous/險(xiǎn)峻的；急躁的

Menacing/威脅的；險(xiǎn)惡的

For the moment, the spikes in Europe are largely confined to a few hotspot countries, regions within them or even towns. Infection rates are particularly high in the Balkans and in Spain, which has notched up about 27 cases per 100,000 people in the past week. The corresponding case rate in Germany, France and Italy is in the single digits. In both low- and high-rate countries, the bulk of new cases is often concentrated in particular locations. Roughly two-thirds of Spain’s cases in the past week are from just two regions, Catalonia and Aragon, which are home to a fifth of Spaniards. About 20% of Italy’s cases in the same period are in the Emilia-Romagna region, which has just 7% of the population.

目前，歐洲的高峰主要局限于幾個(gè)熱點(diǎn)國(guó)家、地區(qū)甚至城鎮(zhèn)。巴爾干半島和西班牙的感染率尤其高，在過(guò)去一周，每10萬(wàn)人中約有27人感染新冠病毒。德國(guó)、法國(guó)和意大利的相應(yīng)病例率為個(gè)位數(shù)。在低發(fā)病率和高發(fā)病率國(guó)家，大部分新病例往往集中在特定地點(diǎn)。過(guò)去一周，西班牙約有三分之二的病例來(lái)自兩個(gè)地區(qū)，加泰羅尼亞和阿拉貢，這兩個(gè)地區(qū)居住著五分之一的西班牙人。同期意大利約20%的病例發(fā)生在人口僅占7%的艾米利亞-羅馬涅地區(qū)。

詞匯

notch up /完成；創(chuàng)下；達(dá)到

The rise in cases across Europe is not surprising, says Hans Kluge of the World Health Organisation. As lockdowns were lifted and people resumed travel and mingling, both imported cases and the local spread of the virus have pushed tallies up. What is different now is that testing and tracing systems are catching local spikes early, and authorities are battling them with localised measures. On July 27th Antwerp, Belgium’s most populous province, announced a night curfew for non-essential movement and made masks mandatory in public spaces; people were told to stay at home as much as possible. Covid clusters have emerged across Germany, in care homes, workplaces and private parties, forcing officials to impose localised lockdowns. In mid-July the Catalan authorities reimposed a strict lockdown in Lleida, a city of 140,000. Nightclubs in Barcelona and other hotspots in Spain were recently shut or ordered to close early.

世界衛(wèi)生組織的漢斯?克魯格表示，整個(gè)歐洲病例的增加并不令人驚訝。隨著封鎖被解除，人們重新開(kāi)始旅行和交往，輸入病例和病毒在當(dāng)?shù)氐膫鞑ザ纪聘吡怂劳鋈藬?shù)。現(xiàn)在的不同之處在于，檢測(cè)和追蹤系統(tǒng)可以很早就捕捉到當(dāng)?shù)氐姆逯?，?dāng)局正在用當(dāng)?shù)氐拇胧﹣?lái)對(duì)付它們。7月27日，比利時(shí)人口最多的省份安特衛(wèi)普宣布對(duì)非必要活動(dòng)實(shí)施宵禁，并強(qiáng)制規(guī)定在公共場(chǎng)所佩戴口罩;人們被告知盡可能呆在家里。新冠患者集群在德國(guó)各地出現(xiàn)，在養(yǎng)老院、工作場(chǎng)所和私人聚會(huì)中都有，迫使官員們實(shí)施了地方封鎖。7月中旬，加泰羅尼亞當(dāng)局在擁有14萬(wàn)人口的萊達(dá)市重新實(shí)施了嚴(yán)格的封鎖。巴塞羅那和西班牙其他熱點(diǎn)地區(qū)的夜總會(huì)最近被勒令關(guān)閉或提前關(guān)門。

詞匯

Mingling/交際

Curfew/ ?宵禁；宵禁令

Mandatory/強(qiáng)制的；托管的；命令的

Cluster/群；簇

Reimpose/重新實(shí)施（法律，規(guī)章等）

Varying covid-19 rates across Europe have prompted countries to make some tough choices. In a normal year, some 18m Britons seek fun in the sun in Spain, along with lots of other northern Europeans. But as cases in Spain notched up, Britain and Norway swiftly brought back quarantine for people coming from Spain. Vacationers to Greece from some Balkan countries must now show proof of a negative covid-19 test to enter the country. That has dealt a blow to whatever remained of the foreign tourist season in much of southern Europe. But there has been a collective sigh of relief among health officials watching with trepidation clubs and beaches crowded with drunk foreigners.

歐洲各地不同的新冠發(fā)病率促使各國(guó)做出一些艱難的選擇。正常情況下，大約有1800萬(wàn)英國(guó)人會(huì)和其他北歐人一起去西班牙享受陽(yáng)光。但隨著西班牙病例的增多，英國(guó)和挪威迅速采取了對(duì)來(lái)自西班牙的人的隔離措施。一些巴爾干國(guó)家的度假者現(xiàn)在必須出示新冠檢測(cè)呈陰性的證據(jù)才能進(jìn)入希臘。這對(duì)南歐大部分地區(qū)剩余的外國(guó)旅游旺季造成了沉重打擊。但在那些擠滿了喝醉酒的外國(guó)人的令人恐懼的俱樂(lè)部和海灘上，衛(wèi)生官員們都松了一口氣。

詞匯

Trepidation/ ?恐懼；驚恐

That, however, still leaves the matter of intensifying local transmission. A pattern that cuts across Europe is that new cases have been mostly among people in their 20s and 30s; clusters linked to large parties have become a recurring theme across the continent. German politicians have warned that citizens are growing complacent about the dangers; surveys confirm suspicions that fewer people are avoiding crowded public spaces or private gatherings. Dr Kluge says that the priority in Europe now is to ensure that young people comply more with such precautions. If that fails, he says, it won’t be long before infections spread to older, vulnerable people.

然而，這仍然留下了加強(qiáng)局部傳播的問(wèn)題。一個(gè)貫穿整個(gè)歐洲的模式是，新病例主要發(fā)生在二三十歲的人群中;與大型派對(duì)有關(guān)的集群已成為整個(gè)歐洲大陸反復(fù)出現(xiàn)的主題。德國(guó)政界人士警告稱，民眾對(duì)危險(xiǎn)越來(lái)越自滿;調(diào)查證實(shí)了人們的猜測(cè)，即越來(lái)越少的人會(huì)避開(kāi)擁擠的公共場(chǎng)所或私人聚會(huì)。克魯格博士說(shuō)，歐洲目前的首要任務(wù)是確保年輕人更多地遵守此類預(yù)防措施。他說(shuō)，如果這樣做失敗了，感染很快就會(huì)擴(kuò)散到老年人和脆弱的人群。

詞匯

Comply/遵守；順從

As the summer starts to wind down, the need to contain outbreaks across Europe will become increasingly acute. A huge worry in all countries is the autumn, when people start to spend more time indoors and flu and other respiratory infections rise as they do every year, filling hospital beds. Countries that reach that point with a high plateau of covid-19 cases could see a return to exponential growth that overwhelms hospitals again. Across Europe, they are better prepared for a second wave than they were for the first, with new measures to curb the spread of covid-19 in hospitals and extra beds and field hospitals that are mothballed now. But how hard they are hit will depend largely on how much their citizens choose to play by the rules of the new normal.

隨著夏季逐漸結(jié)束，控制疫情在整個(gè)歐洲蔓延的必要性將變得越來(lái)越迫切。所有國(guó)家都非常擔(dān)心秋天，這個(gè)時(shí)候人們開(kāi)始花更多的時(shí)間在室內(nèi)，流感和其他呼吸道感染也像每年一樣增加，擠滿了醫(yī)院的病床。達(dá)到這一水平、新冠病例高發(fā)的國(guó)家可能會(huì)再次出現(xiàn)指數(shù)增長(zhǎng)，使醫(yī)院不堪重負(fù)。在整個(gè)歐洲，由于采取了遏制新冠肺炎在醫(yī)院傳播的新措施，以及增加了床位和現(xiàn)已封存的野戰(zhàn)醫(yī)院，他們對(duì)第二波疫情的準(zhǔn)備工作比第一波更為充分。但他們受到的打擊有多嚴(yán)重，將在很大程度上取決于他們的公民在多大程度上選擇遵守新常態(tài)的規(guī)定。