COVID-19 is not just seasonal, cautions WHO, as ‘first wave’ continues

    

28 July 2020

Health UN

The COVID-19 virus is likely not impacted by the changing seasons like other respiratory diseases, the UN health agency said on Tuesday, before urging much greater respect for physical distancing measures to stop it spreading.

 

respiratory adj. /rəˈspɪrətri/  /ˈrespərətri/  connected with breathing 呼吸的

• the respiratory system 呼吸系统 • respiratory diseases 呼吸道疾病

“The season does not seem to be affecting the transmission of this virus”, said Dr. Margaret Harris, World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson, highlighting many people’s “fixed” belief to the contrary.

“What is affecting the transmission is mass gatherings, it’s people coming together, and people not social distancing, not taking the precautions to ensure they are not in close contact.”

Globally, WHO has reported as on Tuesday morning Geneva time, 16,301,736 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 650,069 deaths.

precaution /prɪˈkɔːʃən/  A precaution is an action that is intended to prevent something dangerous or unpleasant from happening. 防范行动

Hotspots

Hotspot：热点；聚光区；热点地区·both sides also exchanged views on African hotspot issues and global issues. 双方还就非洲热点问题和全球性问题交换了意见

The Americas remains the epicentre by region, with more than 8.7 million cases, followed by Europe (3.2 million), South-East Asia (1.8 million), Eastern Mediterranean (1.5 million), Africa (712,920) and Western Pacific (291,993).

Mediterranean adj. /ˌmedɪtəˈreɪniən/ 地中海的 Eastern Mediterranean：地中海东部

During a scheduled virtual press conference, Dr. Harris noted that the biggest outbreak “with the most intense, the highest numbers”, remained the US, where it is the middle of summer.

Brazil had also seen high infection rates, despite being an equatorial country, the WHO spokesperson continued.

equatorial  adj. /ˌekwəˈtɔːriəl/ 赤道的；赤道附近的；赤道地区特有的 • equatorial rainforests 赤道地区的雨林 • an equatorial climate 赤道气候

‘Later’ flu season in Global South

Turning to countries in the global south, Dr Harris noted that winter was underway there, with samples tested, indicating “high” COVID infection rates but low influenza traces. “Now the interesting thing is we are seeing from those samples, high levels of COVID, but we’re not seeing high levels of influenza at the moment. So, we’re expecting a later flu season in the southern hemisphere.”

hemisphere n. /ˈhemɪsfɪə(r)/  one half of the earth, especially the half above or below the equator （地球的）半球；（尤指）北半球，南半球

The development is in line with WHO’s latest influenza update indicating that globally, influenza activity is currently at lower-than-expected levels.

In temperate areas of the northern hemisphere, influenza activity has “returned to inter-seasonal levels”.

In Caribbean, Central American, South American, tropical African, Southern Asia and South East Asia countries, the WHO bulletin reported that there have been only sporadic or no cases detected.

bulletin  n. /ˈbʊlətɪn/  1.（电台或电视台的）新闻简报；2.an official statement about sth important 公告；布告 •a bulletin on the President's health 关于总统健康状况的公告 3.a printed report that gives news about an organization or a group （机构或组织的）简报

sporadic adj.  /spəˈrædɪk/  happening only occasionally or at intervals that are not regular 偶尔发生的；间或出现的；阵发性的；断断续续的 • sporadic fighting/gunfire/violence, etc. 零星的战斗、一阵一阵的炮火、间或发生的暴力事件等

Assessing the impact on countries finding themselves having to tackle both COVID-19 and influenza at the same time, the WHO spokesperson debated whether a “melange” of respiratory diseases might prove problematic.

melange n. /meɪˈlɑːnʒ/ ( from French formal ) a mixture or variety of different things 混合物；大杂烩• a melange of different cultures 不同文化的融合

“That would be a concern, because if you have an increase in respiratory illness when you already have a very high burden of respiratory illness, that puts even more pressure on the health system,” she said.

‘One big wave’

Dr Harris also pushed back on the perception that a respiratory illness might come and go in several waves.

perception n. /pəˈsepʃn/  

1.知觉；感知 •our perception of reality 我们对现实的认识 •visual perception 视觉

2.[ U ] ( formal ) the ability to understand the true nature of sth 洞察力；悟性

•She showed great perception in her assessment of the family situation. 她对家庭状况的分析显示出敏锐的洞察力。

3.[ UC ] ~ (that...) ( formal ) an idea, a belief or an image you have as a result of how you see or understand sth 看法；见解

“It’s going to be one big wave”, she said. “It’s going to go up and down a bit…the best thing is to flatten it and turn it into just something that is lapping at your feet. But at the moment, first, second, third wave, these things don’t really make sense and we’re not really defining it that way.”

lapping at your feet：lap有轻拍，舔舐的意思，这段话的大意是疫情的曲线像波浪上下起伏，最好是很平缓，就是亲拍脚底的海浪或者是舔脚底的浪。

Asked about the WHO’s stance on charging for COVID-19 testing, the WHO official explained that this was a decision governed by countries alone. “Now we do everything we can to encourage all countries to test, because testing is absolutely essential,” she said. “You don’t know where your outbreak is if you’re not testing people. And we also encourage all countries to make access to testing wide and available”.

stance n. /stæns/  /stɑːns/  

1.~ (on sth) the opinions that sb has about sth and expresses publicly （公开表明的）观点，态度，立场 •What is the newspaper's stance on the war? 那家报纸对这场战争持什么立场？

2.the way in which sb stands, especially when playing a sport （尤指体育运动中的）站立姿势

原文链接：https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/07/1069111