UK records highest daily COVID-19 cases since start of pandemic

Friday, December 17, 2021 - 01:00

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The United Kingdom recorded its highest daily corona-virus cases since the start of the pandemic on Wednesday as a senior British health chief said there could be a “staggering” rise in cases over the next few days.

英国周三记录自新冠大流行开始以来的最高单日新冠确诊病例人数，英国一名高级卫生主管表示，未来几天的病例可能会“惊人”地增加。

A further 78,610 COVID-19 infections were reported, about 10,000 more than the previous high reported in January.

另外报告了78,610例新冠确诊病例，比曾经的1月份病例人数峰值报告的上一个高点多了约1万人。

More than 11 million people have now tested positive for the disease in the United Kingdom, which has a total population of around 67 million.

在总人口约6700万的英国，目前已有1100多万人检测出新冠阳性。

With a new highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus surging across Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned of a “tidal wave” of infections.

随着新的高度传播新冠变种毒株-奥密克戎在英国各地激增，英国首相鲍里斯·约翰逊警告称，可能会出现感染的“浪潮”。

tidal wave /ˈtaɪdl weɪv/1.潮汐波；潮浪；海啸；2.~ (of sth) （情感或事物发展的）高涨阶段；高潮；浪潮；热潮 •a tidal wave of crime 犯罪高峰期

However, he suffered a blow to his authority on Tuesday when more than 100 of his lawmakers voted against measure to curb the increasing spread of the disease.

然而，周二，他的权威受到了打击，他的100多名议员投票反对遏制疾病日益蔓延的措施。

a blow to：受···打击

Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, earlier called the Omicron variant “probably the most significant threat” since the start of the pandemic.

英国卫生安全局(UK Health Security Agency)首席执行官珍妮•哈里斯(Jenny Harries)早些时候称奥密克戎毒株很有可能是自疫情开始以来最重大威胁”。

Harries said the new variant of the virus has a doubling time “which is shortening” and is now under two days in most regions in Britain, with its growth rate was being notable in London and Manchester in particular.

哈里斯表示，这种变异毒株感染时间变短，传播时间增加了一倍。目前在英国大部分地区不到两天（就确诊），其传播速度在伦敦和曼彻斯特尤其显著。

More than 10,000 cases of Omicron have been recorded, with at least 10 people hospitalized. One person has died after contracting the variant, which is set to become the dominant strain in London.

记录在案的奥密克戎病例超过1万例，至少有10人住院。已经有一人在感染这种变体后死亡，这种变体将成为伦敦的主要菌株。

Meanwhile, There is a “very high” risk the omicron variant of COVID-19 will become dominant in Europe by early next year and lead to a growing number of hospital admissions and deaths, the EU’s public health body said on Wednesday.

与此同时，欧盟公共卫生机构周三表示，到明年初，奥密克戎毒株有“非常高”的可能成为欧洲新冠主角，并导致越来越多的住院和死亡人数。

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in a report that the omicron variant of concern (VOC) was likely to overtake delta within the first two months of 2022.

欧洲疾病预防和控制中心(ECDC)在一份报告中表示，omicron的变种(VOC)可能会在2022年前两个月内取代delta。

ECDC said data was not yet sufficient to assess the severity of disease caused by the omicron variant.

欧洲疾病预防和控制中心表示数据还不足以评估奥密克戎变异引起的疾病的严重程度。

However, even if the severity of COVID-19 it caused was lower than that caused by delta, the increased transmissibility would rapidly outweigh any potential benefits. “It is, therefore, considered very likely that the omicron VOC will cause additional hospitalisations and fatalities.

然而，即使它导致的COVID-19的严重程度低于delta引起的，其增加的传播能力将迅速抵消它的潜在好处。“因此，奥密克戎变种很可能会导致更多的住院和死亡。

Transmissibility /trænsˌmɪsəˈbɪləti/n. 遗传性；[机] 传递率；传递性

outweigh /ˌaʊtˈweɪ/重于；大于；超过 • The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. 利远大于弊。

Meanwhile, Despite a 83 per cent surge in COVID-19 cases in Africa in the last one week, a top official of the World Health Organization's Regional Office for Africa said on Tuesday that she remains “cautiously optimistic” about the overall situation, WHO Africa Director Matshidiso Moeti said. “There has been an 83 per cent surge in cases on the continent this week, compared to the previous week. This is the fastest surge recorded since May last year. We are cautiously optimistic though, as we are seeing fewer deaths during the early weeks of this current wave as compared to the previous ones,” Moeti said during a virtual media briefing.

与此同时，尽管过去一周非洲的COVID-19病例激增83%，但周二世界卫生组织非洲区域办事处的一名高级官员表示，她对总体形势仍然“谨慎乐观”。“与前一周相比，本周非洲大陆的病例激增了83%。世卫组织非洲区主任Matshidiso Moeti在线上媒体发布会上表示，这是自去年5月以来的最高值。尽管如此，我们仍持谨慎乐观态度，因为与前几次相比，目前这波疫情的最初几周死亡人数有所减少。”

Africa has recorded more than nine million COVID cases, with more than 2,25,000 lives lost to pandemic.

非洲已经报道了超过9百万新冠确诊病例，超过22.5万人因新冠死亡。

- THE HINDU, INDIAN EXPRESS,THE PIONEER