美国国家公共电台 NPR--North Korea mobilizes the military to distribute medicine during COVID outbreak

North Korea mobilizes the military to distribute medicine during COVID outbreak

Transcript¹

Before last Thursday, North Korea claimed to have not a single case of COVID-19. Now it's battling what it claims is its first outbreak.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Before last Thursday, North Korea claimed that it didn't have a single case of COVID-19. Now the country is battling what it claims is its first outbreak. North Korea has ignored foreign offers of help and has continued testing ballistic missiles. NPR's Anthony Kuhn joins us now from Seoul. Hey, Anthony.

ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE²: Hey, Rachel.

MARTIN: So North Korea is saying that it has 1.7 million so-called fever patients. What's a fever patient?

KUHN: Well, they're not saying they have COVID patients. They're not saying they have suspected cases. They're saying fever patients because they don't have adequate facilities to test all these people who are showing symptoms, much less those who aren't showing symptoms. And for the past two years, North Korea has been testing a few hundred people a day out of a population of 24 million and reporting these cases to the World Health Organization and claiming they have no COVID cases. But experts have doubted this, partially³ because they've had other outbreaks that they've not admitted before. Now when they say they have an outbreak, nobody seems to doubt them. Their cases have soared with nearly 230,000 new cases or, as they say, fever patients on Tuesday. And in response, North Korea's government has declared a nationwide emergency, a lockdown, and it's mobilized the military to distribute medicine. And leader Kim Jong Un has criticized his own officials for doing a poor job of crisis management and for letting the virus into the country at all.

MARTIN: So, I mean, what is the state of North Korea's health care system? Does it have anywhere near the capacity it needs to deal with an outbreak?

KUHN: Well, North Korean officials have, in past, admitted that they're not well-equipped to handle a major outbreak. If you go to North Korean hospitals in some rural areas, they lack basic equipment like ventilators and even basics like electricity and running water. And on top of all this, some 40% of North Korea's population suffers from malnutrition⁴. That said, they also have some strengths. If you talk to people who have worked in North Korea, they say the doctors there are well-trained and capable. They also have cold storage facilities. They've taken donations of vaccines⁵ which they can store. And they've shown in previous outbreaks that they can mobilize people to get shots into folks' arms pretty quickly.

MARTIN: So North Korea has turned down offers of vaccines and other assistance all along, since the pandemic started. Why?

KUHN: That's right. Well, before this outbreak, North Korea had refused offers of millions of vaccines coming from the U.N.-backed COVAX initiative. Since the outbreak, China and South Korea have both offered vaccines and medical assistance, and North Korea has not responded - or at least not publicly. We don't know exactly why that is. There is speculation⁶ that they don't trust the drugs, or they don't want to be seen to be depending on outside help. There's another problem, which is that international aid donors⁷ are concerned that if they make donations to North Korea, they could be diverted to somehow help North Korea's nuclear programs. And so they want to monitor distribution of that aid. And North Korea finds that intrusive⁸. They don't like it. I spoke⁹ to Kee Park, who is a neurosurgeon and lecturer at Harvard who has worked in North Korea. And he told me that he hopes both sides will just let the aid in. Let's hear him now.

KEE PARK: I just hope that international organizations are able to not use this fear of diversion as a reason to make things much more complicated than they need to be and at the same time, the North Koreans be willing to be somewhat more transparent¹⁰.

KUHN: So he's saying, basically, that requests to monitor the distribution of aid should not prompt North Korea to reject donations.

MARTIN: NPR's Anthony Kuhn, reporting from Seoul. Thank you.

KUHN: Thank you, Rachel.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

4 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

5 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

6 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

7 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 intrusive   

adj.打搅的；侵扰的

参考例句：

• The cameras were not an intrusive presence.那些摄像机的存在并不令人反感。
• Staffs are courteous but never intrusive.员工谦恭有礼却从不让人感到唐突。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。