(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
US COVID-19 Cases Rising Again, Doubling over Three Weeks
The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States is increasing again after months of falling numbers.
The number of new cases a day has increased by 100 percent over the past three weeks. Experts say the increase has been caused by the fast-spreading delta variant, low vaccination rates and recent holiday gatherings in the country.
Confirmed infections rose to an average of about 23,600 a day on July 12, up from 11,300 on June 23. Those numbers come from reports from Johns Hopkins University. Every state except two — Maine and South Dakota — reported that case numbers have gone up over the past two weeks.
"It is certainly no coincidence that we are looking at exactly the time that we would expect cases to be occurring after the July 4th weekend," said Dr. Bill Powderly. He is the co-director of the infectious-disease division at Washington University's School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. July 4th – or Independence Day -- is a major American holiday.
At the same time, parts of the country are dealing with strong anti-vaccine beliefs. And the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, which was first discovered in India, is making an ever-larger share of infections in the United States.
Nationally, 55.6 percent of all Americans have received at least one COVID-19 shot, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Even with the latest increases, case numbers in the U.S. are still much lower than they were earlier this year. They reached a high of 250,000 cases a day in January.
The number of people dying from COVID-19 each day is also much lower than six months ago. The country is now reporting fewer than 260 deaths per day on average. Over the winter, there were more than 3,400 COVID-related deaths being reported each day. The large drop shows how effectively the vaccine can prevent serious illness and death in those who become infected.
Still, health officials in places such as Los Angeles County in California and St. Louis, Missouri, are asking even vaccinated people to return to wearing face coverings in public. Officials in Chicago, Illinois, announced Tuesday that unvaccinated visitors from Missouri and Arkansas must either quarantine for 10 days or get a test showing they do not have COVID-19.
The state of Mississippi has the lowest vaccination rate in the country. The state's Health Department began blocking posts about COVID-19 on its Facebook page because of a "rise of misinformation" about the virus and the vaccine.
Mississippi officials are also asking people 65 and older, and those with serious health problems, to stay away from large indoor gatherings. The request comes after a 150-percent rise in hospitalizations over the past three weeks.
Louisiana also has one of the nation's lowest vaccination rates. Officials in the city of New Orleans said Tuesday they are likely to extend until autumn the restrictions in place to fight the virus. They say those planning to attend large indoor gatherings must be vaccinated or have proof they are not infected. State health officials said cases of the coronavirus are increasing, largely among non-vaccinated people.
In many states, however, officials are not willing to accept the possibility that restrictions may be needed again, even if case numbers are rising.
"Alabama is OPEN for business. Vaccines are readily available, and I encourage folks to get one," said the state's Republican Governor Kay Ivey. "The state of emergency and health orders have expired. We are moving forward."
Dr. James Lawler is a leader of the Global Center for Health Security at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. He said bringing back face coverings and limiting gatherings would help. But he agreed that most of the places seeing higher rates of the virus "are exactly the areas of the country that don't want to do any of those things."
He said that areas around the world where the delta variant has become the most common form of the virus have reported hospitals full of younger adults.
"That's what the critical care doctors describe and that's what's coming to the U.S.," Lawler said.
He added, "I think people have no clue what's about to hit us."
While the U.S. government has seen success in vaccinating older Americans, young adults have shown less urgency to get the shots.
I'm Susan Shand.
重点解析
重点讲解：
1. deal with 处理；应对
Our New York branch is dealing with the matter.
我们的纽约分部正在处理这件事。
2. be open for 为...开放
Buckingham Palace is just open for the summer, so that's pretty popular.
白金汉宫只在夏天开放，所以那儿相当受欢迎。
3. move forward 向前移动；朝前进
If you move forward a little, I can squeeze past.
你朝前挪一挪，我就可以挤过去了。
4. At the same time 同时
It's impossible to get everybody together at the same time.
不可能把每个人同时召集在一起。
参考译文
美国单日新增确诊病例三周来翻倍
美国新冠肺炎新增病例在连续数月下降后，再次出现反弹。
过去3周，美国单日新增确诊人数增加了一倍。专家表示，这一增长是由快速传播的德尔塔变种、疫苗接种率低和美国最近的假期聚集造成的。
单日新增病例从6月23日的11300例上升到7月12日的大约23600例。这些数据来自于约翰·霍普金斯大学的报告。除了缅因州和南达科塔州，其他州的病例数量在过去两周都有所上升。
比尔·波德利（Bill Powderly）博士表示：“我们正在关注7月4日这个周末后新增病例的确切时间，这当然不是巧合。”他是密苏里州圣路易斯市的华盛顿大学医学院感染科的联合主任。7月4日的独立日是美国的一个重要节日。
与此同时，美国部分地区正在应对强烈的反疫苗理念。而在印度首次发现的具有高度传染性的新冠病毒德尔塔变体在美国新增感染中占比越来越高。
美国疾控与预防中心表示，全美有55.6%的民众至少接种了一剂新冠肺炎疫苗。
即使最近新增病例有所增加，美国确诊人数也远低于今年年初的水平。今年一月份单日新增病例高达25万。
新冠肺炎单日死亡人数也远低于6个月之前。美国现在日均报告死亡人数不到260人。去年冬天，每天报告的新冠肺炎相关死亡病例超过3400例。这一数据的大幅下降表明疫苗可以有效预防感染者的严重疾病和死亡。
尽管如此，加州洛杉矶市和密苏里州圣路易斯市等地的卫生官员甚至要求接种了疫苗的人员重新在公共场合戴口罩。伊利诺伊州芝加哥市官员周二宣布，来自密苏里州和阿肯色州的未接种疫苗游客必须隔离10天，或者接受检测证明未感染新冠肺炎。
密西西比州的疫苗接种率是全美最低的。由于有关该病毒和疫苗的虚假信息增加，该州卫生部开始在其Facebook页面上屏蔽有关新冠肺炎的帖子。
密西西比州官员还要求65岁及以上的老人，以及存在严重健康问题的人员远离大型室内聚集。该要求是在过去3周住院人数增加了150%后提出的。
路易斯安那州也是美国疫苗接种率最低的州之一。新奥尔良市的官员周二表示，他们可能会将针对该病毒的限制措施延长至秋季。他们表示，计划参加大型室内聚集的人员必须接种疫苗或是出示未感染病毒的相关证据。州卫生官员表示，新冠病毒病例正在增加，主要是在未接种疫苗的人群中。
然而，即使病例数量开始上升，很多州的官员也不愿接受再次需要实施限制措施的可能性。
阿拉巴马州共和党州长凯·伊维（Kay Ivey）表示：“阿拉巴马州已经开放营业。疫苗可随时接种，我鼓励大家打疫苗。紧急状态和卫生命令已经过期。我们正在向前迈进。”
詹姆斯·劳勒（James Lawler）博士是位于奥马哈市的内布拉斯加大学全球卫生安全中心的负责人。他表示，重新戴口罩和限制集会将有所帮助。但是他也认可，大多数感染率较高的地区“都是不愿恢复这类防疫措施的地区”的观点。
他说，在德尔塔变体已经发展为新冠病毒最常见形式的当下，世界各地都有报告称，医院里挤满了年轻人。
劳勒表示：“这是重症监护室医生描述的，也是美国未来要面临的状况。”
他还表示：“我认为人们对即将袭来的危机一无所知。”
虽然美国政府在让老年人接种方面取得了成功，但年轻人对接种疫苗的紧迫感已经下降。
苏珊·尚德为您播报。
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