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Experts Worry as US Ease Restrictions

专家担心美国放松限制会导致疫情反弹

By Hai Do
17 September 2020

State and local officials around the United States have again started rolling back social-distancing rules. Officials in some areas had lifted similar restrictions in the past, but reordered them again when coronavirus infections increased.
美国各州和地方官员再次开始收回社交隔离规定。某些地区的官员之前取消了类似限制，但是当新冠病毒感染增加时又重新出台了限制。

While some Americans welcome the move, health experts warn that it will, again, increase infections, illnesses and deaths.
尽管一些美国人欢迎此举，但是健康专家警告说，这将再次增加感染、患病和死亡。

In the state of Mississippi, officials are now permitting restaurants to expand their visitor limit to 75 percent. New Jersey decided to reopen exercise centers and permit indoor dining with limited capacity. Organized sports returned in Michigan and parts of Florida are now considering an end to mask requirements.
在密西西比州，官员们现在允许餐馆将接待人数限制扩大到75%。新泽西州决定在限制接待量的情况下，重新开放健身中心并允许在室内用餐。密歇根州和佛罗里达州部分地区恢复了有组织的体育活动，并考虑取消戴口罩的要求。

Bars can reopen in some parts of Florida at 50 percent capacity with some safety measures in place. But Florida's three biggest areas — Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach — are keeping bars closed because of high case numbers.
如果采取一些安全措施，佛罗里达州部分地区的酒吧可以按50%的接待量重新开放。但是佛罗里达州的迈阿密-戴德县、布劳沃德县和棕榈滩县这3个最大的地区由于感染病例众多而继续维持酒吧歇业。

Allie Preston and her husband Zach visited The Leon Pub in Florida's capital, Tallahassee. "We've been cooped up for a while. It was nice to have normalcy," Allie told The Associated Press.
艾莉·普雷斯顿和她的丈夫扎克前往了佛罗里达州首府塔拉哈西市的莱昂酒吧。艾莉对美联社表示：“我们被封闭了一段时间，生活恢复正常太好了。”

In other areas, American football fans gathered to cheer on their team without face coverings.
在其它地区，美式足球球迷聚在一起为他们喜欢的球队加油，而无需佩戴口罩。

Supporters of President Donald Trump attended an indoor campaign event over the weekend outside Las Vegas, Nevada. The event violated a rule set by the state's governor that limits indoor and outdoor gatherings to 50 people. While officials urged face masks, many attendees did not wear them.
川普总统的支持者上周末在内华达州拉斯维加斯郊外参加了一场室内竞选活动。该活动违反了该州州长制定的将室内外聚集人数限制为50人的规定。虽然有关官员督促佩戴口罩，但是许多与会者都没有佩戴。

On Wednesday, the Big Ten, a major college conference, announced it will play football games this season. The move followed decisions by the Big 12 and Atlantic Coast conferences to also hold games. Just five weeks ago, the Big Ten said it would not play sports in autumn because of concerns over player safety. The latest decision came even though many students are still not permitted to return to classes in person.
周三，美国“十大盟校”宣布本赛季将会举办足球比赛。在此之前，“大十二联盟”和“大西洋海岸联盟”也决定举办比赛。就在5个星期前“十大盟校”还表示，出于对球员安全的担心不会在秋季举行比赛。这一最新决定最终还是出台了，即使很多学生仍然不被允许返校复课。

State officials are not the only ones easing social distancing restrictions. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Roman Catholic archbishop said he will no longer excuse people from in-person worship unless they are sick or are caring for someone who is. Coronavirus infections, however, are rising in Wisconsin.
不光是各州官员在放松社交距离限制。罗马天主教的大主教在威斯康辛州密尔沃基市表示，除非感染或是正在照顾感染者，否则他将不再允许人们不到现场做礼拜。然而威斯康辛州的新冠病例正在增长。

In many states, the number of infections is still too high to permit high-risk activities, such as going to bars, exercise centers, theaters and sporting events. Virus risks are also high for people taking part in close contact sports or eating inside restaurants.
许多州感染量仍然很大，无法批准高风险活动，例如去酒吧、健身房、剧院或是看体育比赛。对于参加近距离接触运动或是在餐厅内就餐的人们来说，病毒感染的风险也很高。

In Framingham, Massachusetts, officials said they have started issuing $500 fines to property owners who violate the rules on gatherings and face coverings.
在马萨诸塞州弗雷明翰市，有关官员表示，他们已经开始对违反聚会和口罩规定的业主处以500美元的罚款。

"Folks are becoming very cavalier about the pandemic," said Mark Rupp, professor and chief of infectious diseases at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. This week, Nebraska's governor ended nearly all of his state's restrictions, even with new coronavirus cases on the rise.
内布拉斯加州大学医学中心教授兼传染病学系主任马克·鲁普表示：“人们对大流行的态度变得非常漫不经心。”本周，内布拉斯加州州长几乎取消了该州所有限制，哪怕新冠病例人数还在增长。

"I think it is setting us up for further transmission and more people getting ill and, unfortunately, more people dying," Rupp said.
鲁普表示：“我认为这会让我们进一步传播，使更多人感染，不幸的是，还会有更多人死亡。"

By the third week of September, Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center reported that more than 6.6 million people in the U.S. have been infected with COVID-19. The center also reported more than 196,000 deaths. Those numbers are by far the highest totals of any country.
截至9月的第三周，约翰霍普金斯大学新冠病毒资源中心报告了有超过660万美国人感染新冠肺炎。该中心还报告了有超过19.6万人死亡。这些数字迄今为止是所有国家中最高的。

The number of infections, however, has fallen from a daily average of 67,000 in late July to about 36,000. And deaths are running at about 750 a day, down from over 2,200 in late April.
但是，感染数量已经从7月下旬的每日平均6.7万人下降到了大约3.6万人。每天的死亡人数约为750人，低于4月底的2200人。

Public health experts noted that it is safe to hold some activities in communities where there are low levels of infection.
公共卫生专家指出，在低感染社区举行某些活动是安全的。

The nation's top infectious-disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, praised officials in Vermont for their efforts to safely reopen the state. In a video appearance with the state's governor, Fauci said the state's face mask rules and other safety measures had led to success in fighting the virus.
美国最高传染病专家安东尼·福奇赞扬了佛蒙特州官员为该州重新安全开放所做的努力。福奇在跟该州州长一起露面的视频中表示，该州的口罩规定和其它安全措施已经成功抵抗了该病毒。

"Please, you've done so well, don't let your guard down," Fauci said. "Because if we do, we are going to see surges that are going to put us back to where we were months ago."
福奇表示：“做得很棒，但请您不要放松警惕。因为如果这样做，我们就会看到感染人数激增，让我们一夜回到解放前。”

I'm Jonathan Evans.
我是乔纳森·埃文斯。

Words in This Story

capacity - n. the ability to hold or contain people

mask - n. covering used to cover your mouth

bar - n. a place where alcoholic drinks are served

coop up - phrasal verb, to keep (a person or animal) inside a small space or building for a long time

cavalier - adj. showing no concern for something that is important or serious

pandemic - n. an occurrence in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people throughout the world

transmission - n. the act or process by which something is spread or passed from one person to another

surge - n. a sudden or large increase

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