美国国家公共电台 NPR--President Biden tests positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms

President Biden tests positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms

Transcript¹

President Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms, the White House said Thursday.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

President Biden has tested positive for COVID-19. The White House said in a statement this morning that he is experiencing mild symptoms. NPR's White House correspondent Tamara Keith joins us now. Tam, what else can you tell us about the president's condition at this moment?

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE²: Well, we just got a letter from his doctor, Kevin O'Connor. He said that they tested the president this morning as part of a routine screening. He was positive on a rapid test, so they confirmed it with a more sensitive PCR test. His symptoms include a runny nose, fatigue³, and he had an occasional dry cough that started up last night. He has already started treatment with Paxlovid. That's the drug cocktail⁴ that dramatically reduces the chances of severe outcomes from COVID and lessens⁵ symptoms, lessens typically the length of the disease. He's fully⁶ vaccinated⁷, has two boosters, and he's also 79 years old, the oldest president in American history. So that does put him in the high-risk category. That is why he immediately qualified⁸ to start a course of Paxlovid. And we should just say that this comes at a time when I'm sure you and I know people who are positive with COVID. It is - the U.S. is in another wave - in fact, the world is in another wave with the BA.5 variant⁹ of omicron.

MARTIN: Very, very transmissible, although it doesn't lead to as high a rate as hospitalizations or severe disease. So the president, Tam, was just meeting and greeting a whole lot of people on this foreign trip he was on, right? I mean, do we have any sense if that's where he contracted it?

KEITH: The timing¹⁰ would indicate that seems kind of likely. But, you know, you never know exactly where someone got COVID. We will say, yes, that he was in Israel and Saudi Arabia. He was on those long flights. The White House had said he was not going to shake hands to avoid COVID risk while over there. But he did shake hands. He obviously gave a fist bump to the Saudi leader, and he got close to a lot of people, and he was generally not wearing a mask. Then he came back here to the U.S. and he was largely out of sight for three days, which is pretty unusual. The White House insisted nothing was amiss, and then they announced that he had tested negative for COVID on Tuesday, but, you know - and so he traveled yesterday, in fact.

MARTIN: Right. Former President Trump¹¹ got COVID - right? - in the fall of 2020, kind of early on in the pandemic. Can you remind us how that was handled?

KEITH: Yeah. So they announced it - he announced it in a tweet at 1 a.m. He had been traveling, attended a debate and he got really, really sick. And I just have to say that it's a big deal when the president of the United States gets COVID any time, but now is a different time. There are vaccines¹², and there are treatments like Paxlovid that simply weren't available when Trump got it. He ended up at Walter Reed Military Medical Center being treated, including with oxygen.

MARTIN: OK. Again, the news President Biden has tested positive for COVID-19. The White House says his symptoms are mild. NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith, thank you.

KEITH: You're welcome.

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 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

4 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

5 lessens   

变少( lessen的第三人称单数 )； 减少（某事物）

参考例句：

• Eating a good diet significantly lessens the risk of heart disease. 良好的饮食习惯能大大减少患心脏病的机率。
• Alcohol lessens resistance to diseases. 含有酒精的饮料会减弱对疾病的抵抗力。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

8 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

9 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

10 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

11 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

12 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。