Non-stop cremations cast doubts on India’s counting of COVID dead

Tuesday, April 27, 2021 - 01:00

Print Edition  World

Gas and firewood furnaces at a crematorium in the western Indian state of Gujarat have been running so long without a break during the COVID-19 pandemic that metal parts have begun to melt.

西印度古吉拉特邦火葬场燃烧着燃气和柴火的炉子在疫情期间夜以继日，没有停歇，以至于金属部分开始融化。

furnace  n. /ˈfɜːnɪs/ 熔炉•It's like a furnace (= very hot) in here! 这里热得像火炉！

Crematorium  n. /ˌkreməˈtɔːriəm/ 火葬场

Gujarat /,ɡu:dʒe'rɑ:t/ n. 古吉拉特邦（印度西部的邦）

“We are working around the clock at 100 percent capacity to cremate bodies on time,” Kamlesh Sailor, the president of the trust that runs the crematorium in the diamond-polishing city of Surat, told the Reuters news agency.

在钻石加工城市Surat,经营火葬场的信托机构的会长Kamlesh Sailor对路透社记者说：“我们正以100%的能力昼夜不停地工作，以便按时火化遗体。”

cremate  v. /krəˈmeɪt/ 焚烧，火化（尸体）；（尤指）火葬

And with hospitals full and oxygen and medicines in short supply in an already creaky health system, several big cities are reporting far larger numbers of cremations and burials under coronavirus protocols than official COVID-19 death tolls, according to crematorium and cemetery workers, media and a review of government data.

根据火葬场和墓地工作人员、媒体以及对政府数据的一份审查报告，在本已脆弱不堪的卫生系统上雪上加霜的是，由于医院满负荷运转、氧气和药品供应不足，几个大城市报告的按照新冠病毒协议进行火葬和掩埋的人数远远超过了官方的新冠病毒死亡人数。

creaky health system：脆弱不堪的卫生系统

India’s daily COVID-19 cases retreated from record levels on Tuesday but stayed above the 200,000 mark for a sixth-straight day, with cases increasing by 259,170 over the last 24 hours. Deaths rose by a record 1,761, health ministry data showed.

周二，印度每日新冠确诊人数从创纪录水平回落，但依旧连续第六天保持在20万以上，在过去24小时内新增确诊病例259,170例。卫生部的数据显示，新冠死亡人数增加了创纪录的1761人。

Officially, almost 180,000 Indians have died from coronavirus, 15,000 of them this month, although some believe the real number may be higher.

官方公布大约有18万人死于新冠肺炎。这个月就有15000名，有些人认为真实的数据应该高一些。

Indian social media and newspaper reports have been flooded with horrifying images of row upon row of burning pyres and crematoriums unable to cope.

印度社交媒体和新闻报道充斥着让人恐怖的图片：一排又一排烧尸体的柴堆和火葬场不能处理的尸体。

Pyre  n. /ˈpaɪə(r)/ （火葬用的）柴堆

In the western state of Gujarat, many crematoriums in Surat, Rajkot, Jamnagar and Ahmedabad are operating around the clock with three to four times more bodies than normal.

Gujarat邦西区， Surat, Rajkot, Jamnagar 和 Ahmedabad 区域的火葬场夜以继日的工作，处理着比平时多三到四倍的工作量。

Crematorium head Azad, who goes by only one name, said the number of cremations under COVID-19 protocols had risen five-fold in recent weeks.

火葬场负责人，单名阿扎德(Azad)表示，最近几周，按照COVID-19协议进行火化的尸体数量增加了五倍。

“We are working day and night,” he said. “The incinerators are running full time but still many people have to wait with the bodies for the last rites.”

他说：“我们日夜不停的工作，焚烧炉超负荷运营，但仍有许多人需要和遗体一起等待最后的仪式。”

Incinerator  n. /ɪnˈsɪnəreɪtə(r)/（垃圾）焚化炉

last ˈrites  n.（基督教的）临终礼仪，临终圣事 • to administer the last rites to sb 给某人举行临终圣事

(www.aljazeera.com)

原文链接：http://www.dailynews.lk/2021/04/27/world/247585/non-stop-cremations-cast-doubts-india%E2%80%99s-counting-covid-dead