Testing times

檢查時(shí)間

Infections in India are soaring, but increased testing will help

印度的感染人數(shù)正在飆升，但增加檢測(cè)將有所幫助

Covid-19 has spread from big cities to country towns with alarming speed

新冠病毒已以驚人的速度從大城市向鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)蔓延

Jul 11th 2020 | DELHI

SANDEEP IS ANXIOUS. A few days ago the owner of the clinic where his wife works as a receptionist came down with covid-19. Authorities sealed the building and whisked her off to quarantine, then sent him to a different isolation centre. Stuck now in a hostel, he worries that even if he tests negative, the families whose clothes he irons for a living will be afraid to let him back. They won’t appreciate that he covered for them, lying when asked if he had been visiting houses lately. “I didn’t want to inconvenience customers who might get forced to be tested,” he explains. With the clinic also holding up his wife’s salary, the couple will have to borrow to stay afloat.

桑迪普（印度男子名）處在焦慮之中。幾天前，他妻子擔(dān)任接待員的診所的老板感染了新冠病毒。當(dāng)局封鎖了大樓，迅速將她送往隔離，然后將他送往另一個(gè)隔離中心?，F(xiàn)在被困在旅社里，他擔(dān)心即使他的檢測(cè)結(jié)果呈陰性，那些讓他熨衣服使其為生的家庭也不敢讓他回去。他們不可能領(lǐng)會(huì)這位男子為他的客戶(hù)們做出的掩飾，（即使）在被問(wèn)及近期是否與家人有接觸時(shí)，他撒謊應(yīng)對(duì)。他解釋說(shuō):“我不希望給我的客戶(hù)們帶來(lái)不便，不希望他們因?yàn)槲叶黄冗M(jìn)行新冠病毒測(cè)試?！庇糜谠\所也是支持著妻子的薪水來(lái)源，這對(duì)夫婦將不得不借錢(qián)維持生計(jì)。

詞匯

?whisk someone off to/匆匆趕某人去

afloat/經(jīng)濟(jì)上周轉(zhuǎn)得開(kāi)的，不欠債的

?

Sangli, the big country town where Sandeep (not his real name) lives, is 300km (190 miles) south-east of Mumbai. Until recently the pandemic had spared such places. Now, even as the curve has flattened or fallen in Delhi and Mumbai, it is arching sharply upwards in satellite towns, and penetrating ever further into the interior. It is this surge that is pushing India inexorably upwards in the league of covid cases and which, given its population of 1.3bn, will probably see it rise to the top. The wave is moving beyond those parts of the country that are best equipped to manage it, to places that may prove far more vulnerable.

桑迪普(化名)居住的鄉(xiāng)村小鎮(zhèn)桑利位于孟買(mǎi)東南300公里處。直到最近，疫情還沒(méi)有波及到這些地方。如今，即使在德里和孟買(mǎi)，這條曲線已經(jīng)變平或下降，但在衛(wèi)星城，這條曲線急劇上升，并進(jìn)一步向內(nèi)陸延伸。這種激增正無(wú)情地推動(dòng)印度在新冠病例排行榜上節(jié)節(jié)攀升，鑒于印度有13億人口，它很可能會(huì)升至榜首。這股浪潮正從美國(guó)那些配備最精良的地區(qū)蔓延到那些可能更加脆弱的地區(qū)。

詞匯

satellite town/衛(wèi)星城【大城管轄區(qū)范圍內(nèi)或與市中心相距不到100km的范圍內(nèi)，在生產(chǎn)、生活等方面與市區(qū)有密切聯(lián)系，人口規(guī)模在數(shù)萬(wàn)以上的城鎮(zhèn)。】

Penetrate/滲透；穿透

Inexorably/不可逆轉(zhuǎn)地，不可阻擋地

League/范疇

???

With nearly 800,000 confirmed cases so far, India ranks third after America and Brazil in infections. The tally of covid deaths, over 21,000, is relatively modest. It works out at fewer than 15 per million, a quarter of the world average and a fraction of the 651 per million in Britain. But, for reasons ranging from the relatively low level of testing to spotty medical record-keeping to political interference, many experts believe India is undercounting deaths by a third or more. With cases rising by some 25,000 a day (see chart), fatalities are anyway bound to soar.

到目前為止，印度有近80萬(wàn)確診病例，在感染人數(shù)上僅次于美國(guó)和巴西，位居第三。新冠死亡人數(shù)超過(guò)21000，相對(duì)來(lái)說(shuō)不算多。計(jì)算出來(lái)的數(shù)字不到百萬(wàn)分之15，是世界平均水平的四分之一，與英國(guó)的百萬(wàn)分之651相比更是零頭。但是，由于檢測(cè)水平相對(duì)較低、醫(yī)療記錄參差不齊、政治干預(yù)等原因，許多專(zhuān)家認(rèn)為，印度將死亡人數(shù)少算了三分之一或更多。隨著每天約2.5萬(wàn)例病例的增加(見(jiàn)圖表)，死亡人數(shù)無(wú)論如何都會(huì)飆升。

?

?

Unlike Brazil and America, India responded quickly and forcefully to the pandemic. Perhaps too quickly: two months of nationwide lockdown shattered the economy, but only slowed the disease. “You flattened the wrong curve,” is how Rajiv Bajaj, a prominent businessman, puts it. One deadly error was to freeze all travel with no warning, trapping millions of migrant workers where they were no longer wanted, in big cities with the highest rates of infection, and then later to let them go, carrying the infection with them. Local edicts have caused similar spikes: the state government in Tamil Nadu has declared several sudden lockdowns, prompting crowding in markets that have proved dangerous vectors for covid.

與巴西和美國(guó)不同的是，印度對(duì)疫情的反應(yīng)迅速而有力。也許是太快了:兩個(gè)月的全國(guó)封鎖摧毀了經(jīng)濟(jì)，但只是減緩了疾病的蔓延。著名商人拉吉夫?巴賈吉(Rajiv Bajaj)說(shuō):“你把錯(cuò)誤的曲線拉平了?！币粋€(gè)致命的錯(cuò)誤是在沒(méi)有任何警告的情況下凍結(jié)了所有的旅行，把數(shù)以百萬(wàn)計(jì)的農(nóng)民工困在感染率最高的大城市，讓他們帶著感染離開(kāi)。地方法令也造成了類(lèi)似的激增:泰米爾納德邦政府宣布了幾次緊急封鎖，導(dǎo)致市場(chǎng)擁擠，而這些市場(chǎng)已被證明是新冠的危險(xiǎn)媒介。

詞匯

Edict/法令；布告

Spike/猛增；急升【a spike in oil prices?油價(jià)的急劇上漲】

At Sulerikadu, south of the state capital Chennai, fishermen complain that when lockdown was lifted after eight weeks, a seasonal ban on fishing kept the fleet grounded. This was followed by a closure of the market, so that when they could at last catch fish they had no place to sell it. Nearby farmers voice similar despair. A transport ban at harvest time kept many from selling their crops. Individuals are not the only ones hurt. In the last two weeks of June, with shops everywhere mostly open for the first time since March, nationwide sales remained a dismal 67% lower than in the same period last year, says the Retail Association of India.

在邦首府欽奈以南的蘇萊里卡杜，漁民們抱怨說(shuō)，在禁漁令解除八周后，一項(xiàng)季節(jié)性禁漁令令船隊(duì)擱置。隨之而來(lái)的是市場(chǎng)的關(guān)閉，這樣，當(dāng)他們終于能捕到魚(yú)的時(shí)候，他們就沒(méi)有地方賣(mài)了。附近的農(nóng)民也表達(dá)了同樣的絕望。收獲季節(jié)的運(yùn)輸禁令使許多人無(wú)法出售他們的農(nóng)作物。受傷害的不僅僅是個(gè)人。據(jù)印度零售協(xié)會(huì)(Retail Association of India)說(shuō)，在6月的最后兩周，隨著各地商店大多自3月份以來(lái)首次開(kāi)門(mén)營(yíng)業(yè)，印度全國(guó)的銷(xiāo)售額仍較去年同期低了67%，令人沮喪。

詞匯

Dismal/凄涼的，憂(yōu)郁的；陰沉的

??

Yet even as tales of economic woe multiply, and are compounded by the spreading tragedy of covid itself, lessons are being learned. Some Indian states, such as Kerala in the far south and Punjab in the north, have ably contained the disease. Dharavi, a sprawling slum in Mumbai whose density and poor sanitation seemed likely to create conditions for covid to spin out of control, has instead proved a model of how thoughtful, local interventions in co-operation with residents can stem its spread. From hundreds a day in May, new daily infections among the slum’s 850,000 people are down to a handful.

然而，盡管經(jīng)濟(jì)災(zāi)難的故事層出不窮，同時(shí)新冠病毒自身的悲劇也在不斷蔓延，但人們正在吸取教訓(xùn)。印度的一些邦，如偏遠(yuǎn)南部的喀拉拉邦和北部的旁遮普邦，已經(jīng)有效地控制了這種疾病。達(dá)拉維是孟買(mǎi)一個(gè)不斷擴(kuò)張的貧民窟，其密度大，衛(wèi)生條件差，似乎有可能為新冠病毒的失控創(chuàng)造條件。相反，達(dá)拉維卻證明了一個(gè)典范，即通過(guò)深思熟慮的地方干預(yù)，與居民合作，可以遏制其蔓延。從5月份每天幾百人，每天在這個(gè)貧民窟的85萬(wàn)人中新感染的人數(shù)減少到屈指可數(shù)。

詞匯

Woe/困難，災(zāi)難

Sanitation/環(huán)境衛(wèi)生；衛(wèi)生設(shè)備

Intervention/介入；調(diào)停

?

In India’s big cities, fears that hospitals would be overwhelmed have for the most part failed to materialise, largely because medical protocols have been revised to keep all but those who are very ill from occupying beds. Hospitals, for example, can now send covid patients home as soon as they feel better, rather than having to wait for test results to prove they are free of the virus. One district of Delhi requisitioned more than 900 hotel rooms for use as isolation wards. In the end it has used just 25. The change in rules has also meant a welcome drop in what had become a nationwide rash of stories about patients being turned away from one hospital after another, for want of beds.

在印度的大城市，人們對(duì)醫(yī)院不堪重負(fù)的擔(dān)憂(yōu)在很大程度上沒(méi)有成為現(xiàn)實(shí)，這主要是因?yàn)獒t(yī)療協(xié)議已經(jīng)修改，除了重病患者以外，所有人都不得占用病床。例如，醫(yī)院現(xiàn)在可以讓新冠患者在病情好轉(zhuǎn)后立即回家，而不必等待檢測(cè)結(jié)果來(lái)證明他們已無(wú)病毒。德里的一個(gè)區(qū)征用了900多間酒店房間作為隔離病房。最終，它只使用了25個(gè)。在全國(guó)范圍內(nèi)，病人因缺乏床位而被一家又一家醫(yī)院拒之門(mén)外的事件已成為一波又一波的“節(jié)奏”，而這項(xiàng)規(guī)定的改變也意味著人們迎來(lái)了此類(lèi)情況的降低的改觀。

詞匯

Materialise/物質(zhì)化；實(shí)現(xiàn)

Protocol/協(xié)議；草案

?

Another fear, that India would run out of ventilators, turned out to be still more misplaced. Even as doctors were finding that few patients benefited from forced ventilation, Indian manufacturers boosted production from 300 a month to some 30,000. Indian industry has proved so responsive to the crisis that it is now lobbying the government to drop restrictions on exports of medical equipment and protective gear. Makers of covid tests complain that their production was far outstripping the number of tests conducted, owing to cautious government guidance. At the centre’s behest, local authorities in Mumbai changed the rules no fewer than nine times. Often, even medical staff could not get tested—one reason why India has lost more than 100 doctors to the disease.

另一種擔(dān)心，即印度將耗盡呼吸機(jī)，但有關(guān)方面已證實(shí)不僅僅是呼吸機(jī)的問(wèn)題。盡管醫(yī)生們發(fā)現(xiàn)很少有病人受益于強(qiáng)制供氣，但印度制造商還是將產(chǎn)量從每月300臺(tái)提高到了約3萬(wàn)臺(tái)。事實(shí)證明，印度工業(yè)對(duì)危機(jī)反應(yīng)迅速，現(xiàn)在正游說(shuō)政府取消對(duì)醫(yī)療設(shè)備和防護(hù)裝備的出口限制。新冠測(cè)試的制造商抱怨說(shuō)，由于政府的謹(jǐn)慎指導(dǎo)，他們的產(chǎn)量遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過(guò)了測(cè)試的數(shù)量。在該中心的要求下，孟買(mǎi)地方當(dāng)局至少修改了九次規(guī)定。通常情況下，就連醫(yī)務(wù)人員也無(wú)法進(jìn)行檢測(cè)——這也是印度有100多名醫(yī)生死于該病的原因之一。

詞匯

Ventilator/呼吸機(jī)

Gear/裝置；工具

Outstrip/超過(guò)；勝過(guò)

Behest/ ?命令；邀請(qǐng)

??

With the price of tests dropping and restrictions on their use lifted, the country should soon be conducting more than the current 200,000 a day. Mylab, a company based in the city of Pune, says it alone has the capacity to process 2m samples a week. This could be a big help, since testing allows a better understanding of the disease’s trajectory. Researchers at MIT recently suggested that India could have as many as 287,000 new infections a day by January, based on the old level of testing. That picture should now improve. Yet Sandeep, for one, is not reassured. Even in a relative backwater like Sangli, 28 neighbourhoods have been quarantined. “The number of cases is increasing a lot,” he says. “People should take it seriously. Only when it hits you do you know how bad it is.”

隨著檢測(cè)價(jià)格的下降和對(duì)其使用的限制的解除，該國(guó)應(yīng)該很快就能每天進(jìn)行超過(guò)20萬(wàn)次的檢測(cè)。位于浦那市的Mylab公司表示，僅他一家公司就有能力每周處理200萬(wàn)份樣品。這可能是一個(gè)很大的幫助，因?yàn)闇y(cè)試可以更好地了解疾病的發(fā)展軌跡。麻省理工學(xué)院(MIT)的研究人員最近表示，按照以前的檢測(cè)水平，到明年1月，印度每天可能會(huì)新增28.7萬(wàn)例感染病例。這種情況現(xiàn)在應(yīng)該有所改善。然而，桑迪普就是其中之一，他并不放心。即使在桑利這樣相對(duì)閉塞的地區(qū)，也有28個(gè)社區(qū)被隔離。他說(shuō):“病例數(shù)量正在大幅增加?！比藗儜?yīng)該認(rèn)真對(duì)待它。只有當(dāng)你染上它的時(shí)候，你才知道它有多嚴(yán)重?！?/p>

詞匯

Trajectory/軌道，軌線

Backwater/停滯不進(jìn)的狀態(tài)或地方