好英语网美国高级卫生官员警告疫情前景严峻
WASHINGTON — Two of the federal government’s top health officials painted a grim picture of the months ahead on Tuesday, warning a Senate panel that the coronavirus pandemic was far from contained, just a day after President Trump declared that “we have met the moment and we have prevailed.”
华盛顿——周二，联邦政府的两名高级卫生官员对未来几个月作了严峻的描绘，他们警告参议院的一个委员会，新冠疫情还远未得到控制。就在一天前，特朗普总统宣布，“我们已经见证了这个时刻，我们取得了胜利。”
The officials — Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, and Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — predicted dire consequences if the nation reopened its economy too soon, noting that the United States still lacked critical testing capacity and the ability to trace the contacts of those infected.
这两名官员是美国顶尖传染病专家安东尼·S·福奇(Anthony S. Fauci)博士和疾病控制与预防中心主任罗伯特·雷德菲尔德(Dr. Robert R. Redfield)博士。他们预测，如果国家太早重启经济，后果将不堪设想，并指出，美国仍然缺乏至关重要的检测能力和追踪接触者的能力。
“If we do not respond in an adequate way when the fall comes, given that it is without a doubt that there will be infections that will be in the community, then we run the risk of having a resurgence,” said Dr. Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who is at the forefront of efforts to find a coronavirus vaccine.
福奇说：“如果秋天到来时我们没有采取适当的应对措施，鉴于社区中肯定会存在感染，那么我们将面临病毒重新抬头的风险。”福奇长期担任美国国家过敏症和传染病研究所(National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)主任一职，目前处在努力寻找新冠病毒疫苗的最前线。
If states reopen their economies too soon, he warned, “there is a real risk that you will trigger an outbreak that you may not be able to control,” which could result not only in “some suffering and death that could be avoided, but could even set you back on the road to trying to get economic recovery.”
他警告，如果各州过早重新开放经济，“可能会触发一场你无法控制的疫情暴发，这样的风险是确实存在的”，这不仅可能导致“一些本可避免的痛苦和死亡，甚至可以让你在试图使经济复苏的道路上前功尽弃”。
Dr. Fauci’s remarks, during a high-profile — and partly virtual — hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, along with those of Dr. Redfield, made clear that the nation had not yet prevailed.
在参议院卫生、教育、劳工和养老金委员会备受瞩目的听证会上（部分人通过网络与会），福奇与雷德菲尔德的讲话清楚表明，美国还没有取得胜利。
They appeared to rattle the markets, driving the S&P 500 down as investors weighed the potential of a second wave of infections against Mr. Trump’s promises that the economy would bounce back once stay-at-home restrictions were lifted.
他们似乎动摇了市场，导致标普500指数下跌，因为投资者权衡了第二波感染的可能性，而特朗普承诺，一旦居家限制取消，经济将出现反弹。
Here in Washington, Dr. Fauci and Dr. Redfield, who have been barred by the White House from appearing before the Democratic-controlled House, drew a very different picture of the state of the pandemic than the president, who has cheered for a swift reopening, championed protesters demanding an end to the quarantine and predicted the beginning of a “transition to greatness.”
在华盛顿，福奇和雷德菲尔德被白宫禁止在民主党控制的众议院露面。他们对疫情的描绘与总统大相径庭。总统鼓励立即重新开放，支持要求结束隔离的抗议者，并预言这是“向伟大过渡”的开始。
Dr. Fauci told senators that coronavirus therapeutics and a vaccine would almost certainly not be ready in time for the new school year, that outbreaks in other parts of the world would surely reach the United States and that humility in the face of an unpredictable killer meant erring on the side of caution, even with children, who have fared well but have recently shown new vulnerabilities.
福奇告诉参议员，几乎可以肯定的是，新冠病毒的疗法和疫苗将无法在新学年之前及时准备就绪，世界其他地区的疫情肯定会蔓延到美国，难以预测的致命病毒要以谦卑的态度面对，这意味着谨慎行事，即使是儿童，他们本来未受太大影响，但是最近也表现出了新的脆弱性。
Dr. Redfield pleaded with senators to build up the nation’s public health infrastructure, even as he acknowledged that the C.D.C. had not filled 30 jobs authorized by Congress last year to expand its capacity to track outbreaks, and had yet to put in place a “comprehensive surveillance” system to monitor outbreaks in nursing homes, which have been hard hit by the pandemic.
雷德菲尔德恳求参议员加大美国的公共卫生基础设施建设，不过他也承认，美国疾病控制预防中心（Centers for Disease Control and Prevention，简称CDC）尚未填补国会去年为扩大它追踪疫情的能力而授权的30个工作岗位，并且尚未建立一个“全面的监视”系统监测养老院的疫情，在这次病毒暴发期间，养老院遭受重创。
“We are not out of the woods yet,” he said, “but we are more prepared.”
他说：“我们还没有走出困境，但是我们已经做好了更充分的准备。”
The two were among four government doctors — the others were Dr. Stephen Hahn, the commissioner of food and drugs, and Adm. Brett P. Giroir, an assistant secretary for health — who testified remotely during the hearing. Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, who like Dr. Fauci, Dr. Redfield and Dr. Hahn is in quarantine after being exposed to the coronavirus, presided as the committee’s chairman from his home in Maryville, Tenn.
在听证会上远程作证的四名政府医生中，除了他们两位，还有食品和药品管理局局长史蒂芬·哈恩(Stephen Hahn)博士，以及卫生与公众服务部助理部长布雷特·P·吉罗尔(Brett P. Giroir)上将。田纳西州共和党参议员拉马尔·亚历山大(Lamar Alexander)与福奇、雷德菲尔德和哈恩一样，在接触到新冠病毒后处于隔离状态。作为该委员会主席，他在位于田纳西州马里维尔市的家中主持了会议。
The doctors’ downbeat assessments came as the death toll in the United States surpassed 81,000 — a figure that Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, noted was “45 times the rate of South Korea.” The hearing, titled “Covid-19: Safely Getting Back to Work and Back to School,” offered little concrete advice on how that would happen. It was the first chance lawmakers have had to publicly question the officials in Congress since Mr. Trump declared a national emergency two months ago — and to do so without Mr. Trump standing nearby.
随着美国的死亡人数超过8.1万，医生们做出了悲观的评估——弗吉尼亚州民主党参议员蒂姆·凯恩(Tim Kaine)指出，这一数字是“韩国的45倍”。这场名为《新冠病毒肺炎：安全地返工返校》的听证会几乎未拿出具体建议。自特朗普两个月前宣布进入国家紧急状态以来，这是议员们第一次有机会在特朗普不在场的情况下在国会公开质疑官员。
Despite the gloomy predictions for the months ahead, the experts drew a somewhat more upbeat picture over the long term. Asked by Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, if the scientists would ultimately develop a vaccine, Dr. Fauci said: “It’s definitely not a long shot, Senator Romney. I would think that it’s more likely than not that we will.”
尽管对未来几个月的预测令人悲观，但从长期来看，专家们描绘了较为乐观的局面。犹他州共和党参议员米特·罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)询问科学家们是否最终能研发出疫苗，福奇说：“把握绝对是很大的，罗姆尼参议员。我认为我们很有可能会成功。”
And Admiral Giroir assured Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, that his office was determined to see to it that a vaccine “reaches all segments of society regardless of their ability to pay.”
此外，吉罗尔上将向佛蒙特州独立参议员伯尼·桑德斯(Bernie Sanders)保证，他的办公室决心确保疫苗“覆盖社会的各个阶层，无论他们是否有能力支付”。
Some Republicans sounded their own upbeat note. Mr. Alexander proclaimed testing in the United States “impressive” and “enough to begin going back to work.” Senator Mike Braun, Republican of Indiana, agreed, saying in an interview, “I have great optimism that we won’t backslide.”
一些共和党人发表了自己的乐观看法。亚历山大宣布，美国的检测情况“令人瞩目”，并且“足以开始返工了”。印第安纳州共和党参议员迈克·布劳恩(Mike Braun)对此表示赞同，他在接受采访时表示，“我们不会倒退，对此我感到非常乐观。”
But the sentiment was not universal. Mr. Romney drew an unfavorable comparison between South Korea, which conducted 140,000 tests by March 6 and has had 258 deaths from Covid-19, and the United States, which had conducted about 2,000 tests by March 6.
但是，这种情绪并不普遍。罗姆尼将美国与韩国进行了比较，结果让人不乐观。韩国在3月6日之前进行了14万次测试，258人死于新冠病毒，而美国在3月6日之前只进行了2000次检测。
“I find our testing record is nothing to celebrate,” Mr. Romney said.
“我觉得我们的检测记录没什么值得夸耀的，”罗姆尼说。
For Dr. Redfield, who has largely been sidelined by Mr. Trump — at least in the administration’s public response — the hearing was a rare opportunity to speak directly to Americans, though he often seemed at pains not to showcase any disagreements with the president. Dr. Fauci, one of the most visible federal health officials and voices in the pandemic, has had less frequent appearances at the podium the past two weeks, since Mr. Trump abandoned his daily coronavirus task force briefings. Often the subject of speculation that the president will fire him, Dr. Fauci reassured senators that their relationship was intact.
尽管雷德菲尔德博士经常煞费苦心地隐瞒与总统的分歧，但他在很大程度上一直被特朗普排除在外——至少是在政府的公开回应中是如此。对他来说，这次听证会是一个与美国人直接对话的难得机会。福奇博士是这次大流行中最引人注目的联邦卫生官员之一，也是大流行中最有发言权的人物之一。自从特朗普放弃了每日的新冠病毒特别工作组简报会以来，过去两周，他很少出现在讲台上。经常有人猜测总统会解雇他，福奇向参议员们保证，他们的关系没有受到影响。
“There is certainly not a confrontational relationship between me and the president,” he said, adding that when he gives Mr. Trump advice, “he hears that, he respects it, he gets opinions from a variety of other people.”
他说，“我和总统之间肯定不是对抗的关系。”他还表示，自己给特朗普提建议的时候，“他会听到，会尊重这些建议，他从各种各样的人那里听取意见。”
The hearing scene was extraordinary. The wood-paneled hearing room, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, was set up with tables along all four walls, so senators — some of whom were wearing masks that they removed while speaking — could sit a reasonable distance apart. Those who participated virtually gave viewers a peek into their private lives. Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the panel, appeared beside a pine cabinet in her home office. Mr. Alexander’s dog, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel named Rufus, slept in the background as he spoke.
听证会的场面非同一般。在德克森参议院办公大楼带有木质嵌板的听证室里，桌子沿着四壁摆放，以便参议员们落座时可以保持一段合理距离，他们有些人戴着口罩，在讲话时摘下。远程的与会者则让观众一窥他们的私下生活。该委员会民主党领袖、华盛顿州参议员帕蒂·默里(Patty Murray)出现在自己的家庭办公室，身边是一个松木橱柜。亚历山大发言时，他那只名叫鲁弗斯的查理士王小猎犬在他身后睡觉。
The mood was at times tense. Mr. Alexander put Democrats on notice not to engage in “finger pointing” and insisted that “even the experts underestimated Covid-19.” Ms. Murray followed that by calling Mr. Trump’s response “a disaster,” adding: “The president isn’t telling the truth. We must, and our witnesses must.”
气氛有时很紧张。亚历山大提醒民主党人不要“指手画脚”，并坚称“即使专家也低估了新冠病毒”。默里随后称特朗普的回应是“一场灾难”，还说：“总统没有说实话。而我们必须说实话，我们的证人也必须说实话。”
Across the Capitol, House Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a $3 trillion economic stimulus measure to respond to the pandemic, including $1 trillion in aid to state, local and tribal governments, another round of $1,200 direct payments to American families, and more money for jobless aid and food assistance.
在国会大厦另一头，众议院民主党人于周二公布了一项3万亿美元的经济刺激措施以应对疫情，其中包括向州、地方和部落政府提供1万亿美元的援助，向美国家庭提供另一轮1200美元的直接援助，以及为失业救济和食品援助提供更多资金。
Ms. Murray used her time to make a pitch for the package, saying Republicans — who have already joined with Democrats in approving nearly $3 trillion in government aid — had not done enough.
默里利用自己的发言时间宣传该救助计划。她说，共和党做得还不够——两党议员一起批准了近3万亿美元的政府援助。
“What good is a bridge that only gets you to the middle of the river?” she asked.
“一座桥如果只能把你带到河中央，那它又有什么用？”她问道。
There were flash points between the witnesses and the senators, as well. In one sharp exchange, Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, pressed his belief that children needed to return to school and told Dr. Fauci that his voice was not the only one senators would listen to.
证人和参议员之间也是火药味十足。在一次尖锐的交锋中，肯塔基州共和党参议员兰德·保罗(Rand Paul)强调自己坚信孩子们需要重返校园，并且告诉福奇，他的话并不是参议员们会听到的唯一声音。
“I think we ought to have a little bit of humility in our belief that we know what’s best for the economy,” Mr. Paul said. “And as much as I respect you, Dr. Fauci, I don’t think you’re the end-all. I don’t think you’re the one person who gets to make a decision.”
“我认为我们应该谦卑一点，不要觉得自己很懂经济，”保罗说。“尽管我很尊重你，福奇博士，但我不认为你能一锤定音。我不认为你是唯一一个可以做决定的人。”
Dr. Fauci replied, “We should be humble about what we don’t know.” But, he continued, “we really better be very careful, particularly when it comes to children,” because new research is showing that they may not be “completely immune to the deleterious effects” of Covid-19.
福奇博士回答说：“我们应该对我们不知道的事情保持谦卑。”但是，他继续说，“我们真的最好非常小心，尤其是涉及儿童的时候”，因为新的研究表明，他们可能不会“完全不受（新冠病毒的）有害影响”。
The White House has put out guidelines for states to follow, called “Opening Up America Again,” in planning how to reopen businesses and get people back to work and school. The plan recommends, among other things, that before reopening, states should have a “downward trajectory of positive tests” or a “downward trajectory of documented cases” of the coronavirus over two weeks, while conducting robust contact tracing and “sentinel surveillance” testing of asymptomatic people in vulnerable populations, like nursing homes.
白宫已经为各州制定了名为“重启美国”的指导方针，规划如何重开企业，让人们重返工作岗位和学校。该计划的其中一个建议是，在重新开放前两周，各州的冠状病毒“阳性检测结果应呈下降趋势”或“有记录病例应呈下降趋势”，同时应对易感染人群（如疗养院）中的无症状感染者进行积极的接触者追踪和“哨点监测”检测。
But the guidelines are not mandatory, and many states are reopening without adhering to them, seeking to ease the pain as millions of working people and small-business owners are facing economic ruin while sheltering at home.
但是这些指导方针并不是强制性的，许多州在重新开放，以减轻数以百万计的工薪阶层和小企业主面临经济崩溃的痛苦时，并没有遵守这些方针。
Senator Christopher S. Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, complained on Tuesday that Dr. Fauci and the other witnesses were “trying to have it both ways” by saying that states should not reopen too early while giving governors guidance that was “criminally vague.” The C.D.C. has been working on a more specific plan that has been held up by the White House. Mr. Murphy demanded to know when it would be released — especially given that states were reopening.
康涅狄格州民主党参议员克里斯托弗·S·墨菲(Christopher S. Murphy)周二抱怨，福奇和其他证人“试图左右逢源”，他们一方面说各州不应该太早重新开放，一方面又给州长们提供“含糊不清到令人遗憾”的指导。CDC一直在制定一个更具体的计划，该计划卡在白宫手里。墨菲要求知道它将于何时推出，尤其是考虑到目前各州都在重新开放。
“Is it this week? Is it next week?” the senator asked. Dr. Redfield replied that the guidance would be on the C.D.C.’s website “soon,” after being reviewed by Mr. Trump’s coronavirus task force.
“就在这周吗？还是下周？”墨菲参议员问。雷德菲尔德博士回答，指南在接受特朗普的新冠病毒特别工作组的审查后，“很快”就会放到CDC的网站上。
“Soon isn’t terribly helpful,” Mr. Murphy shot back.
“‘很快’可来不及，”墨菲反驳道。