World races to contain COVID-19 Delta variant

Saturday, July 31, 2021 - 01:00

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governments around the world raced to head offa surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the Delta variant, with US President Joe Biden offering new incentives to vaccine holdouts and Israel authorizing booster shots.

世界各国政府竞相使出浑身解数阻止德尔塔变种导致新冠病例激增，美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)为拒绝接种疫苗的人提供了新的激励措施，以色列批准了加强注射。

Head off：阻止，转移方向     Holdout：坚持，抵抗

The World Health Organization warned the highly transmissible strain of the virus, first detected in India, could unleash a "fourth wave" of cases in its Eastern Mediterranean zone -- an area stretching from Morocco to Pakistan.

世界卫生组织(World Health Organization)警告称，这种高度传染性的病毒株最早在印度发现，可能会在东地中海地区引发“第四波”疫情。该地区从摩洛哥延伸至巴基斯坦。

unleash v./ʌnˈliːʃ/ ~ sth (on/upon sb/sth) 发泄；突然释放；使爆发 • The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。

Mediterranean adj. /ˌmedɪtəˈreɪniən/ 地中海的 • a Mediterranean country 地中海国家

Those countries are especially at risk because vaccination rates are low -- only 5.5 percent of the region's population has been fully vaccinated. So in nations where vaccines are more available, public officials are sounding the alarm.

由于疫苗接种率很低——该地区只有5.5%的人口接种了疫苗，这些国家面临的风险尤其大。因此，在疫苗更充足的国家，政府官员敲响了疫情的警钟。

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also urged people living in Covid hotspots -- even the vaccinated -- to mask up indoors.

美国疾病控制和预防中心(CDC)还敦促生活在新冠疫情活跃地区的人，即使是接种过疫苗的人，也要在室内戴上口罩。

The surge in cases across America has left the early vaccine adopters angry at those who have so far opted against the jab.

美国各地病例的激增让早期注射疫苗的民众对那些迄今为止选择拒绝注射的人感到愤怒。

The global coronavirus situation is a mixed one: while some places like the French territory of La Reunion and Spain's Catalonia region are instituting new curbs, others are easing up on restrictions.

全球新冠疫情形势喜忧参半：像法属领土留尼汪岛和西班牙加泰罗尼亚地区等一些地方正在实施新的限制措施，但其他地区正在放松限制。

Portugal said it would lift its anti-virus measures in several phases from Sunday, with shops and restaurants allowed to open for longer hours and working from home no longer compulsory.

葡萄牙表示，将从周日开始分阶段取消防病毒措施，允许商店和餐馆延长营业时间，并不再强制要求员工在家工作。

Compulsory  adj. /kəmˈpʌlsəri/ （因法律或规则而）必须做的，强制的，强迫的• It is compulsory for all motorcyclists to wear helmets. 所有骑摩托车的人都必须戴头盔，这是强制性的。• compulsory education/schooling 义务教育

Japan hit a new record for the number of daily cases -- more than 10,000 -- on Thursday, and a state of emergency already in place in Tokyo was to be extended to four more regions.

周四，日本每日确诊病例超过1万人，创下新纪录，东京已经进入紧急状态，并扩大到另外四个地区。

In Mexico, the national statistics institute said more than 200,000 deaths from the coronavirus were recorded in 2020 -- 35 percent more than originally reported by the government.

在墨西哥，国家统计局表示，2020年有20多万人死于冠状病毒，比政府最初报告的多35%。

China is racing to vaccinate at least 65 percent of its 1.4-billion population by the end of the year.

中国正在加快疫苗注射，争取年底疫苗注射人口达到14亿人口的65%。

So far, the virus has killed more than 4.1 million people around the world, with the United States having the highest death toll, at more than 612,000. - NDTV

到目前为止，新冠病毒已经造成全球410万人口死亡，其中美国死亡人口最多，达到61万2千人。

原文链接：http://www.dailynews.lk/2021/07/31/world/255354/world-races-contain-covid-19-delta-variant