新闻周刊:比Delta和Lambda更致命的末日病毒变体可能即将到来

A Doomsday COVID Variant¹ Worse Than Delta² and Lambda May Be Coming, Scientists Say

科学家称，一种比Delta和Lambda更糟糕的末日新冠病毒变体可能即将到来

Scientists keep underestimating the coronavirus.

科学家们一直在低估冠状病毒。

In the beginning of the pandemic, they said mutated versions of the virus wouldn't be much of a problem—until the more-infectious Alpha caused a spike³ in cases last fall.

在疫情之初，他们说，变异的病毒不会造成太大问题，直到去年秋天更具传染性的Alpha病毒导致病例激增。

Then Beta made young people sicker and Gamma reinfected those who'd already recovered from COVID-19.

接着Beta病毒使年轻人病情加重，Gamma病毒再次感染那些已经从新冠肺炎中康复的人。

Still, by March, as the winter surge in the U.S. receded⁴, some epidemiologists were cautiously optimistic that the rapid vaccine⁵ rollout would soon tame the variants⁶ and cause the pandemic to wind down.

尽管如此，到了3月份，随着美国冬季病例激增逐渐消退，一些流行病学家仍持谨慎乐观的态度，认为快速推出的疫苗将很快制服病毒变种，使疫情逐渐平息。

Delta has now shattered that optimism.

如今，德尔塔变种使这种乐观期望破灭。

This variant, first identified in India in December, spreads faster than any previous strain of SARS-CoV-2, as the COVID-19 virus is officially named.

这种变种于去年12月在印度被首次发现，它的传播速度比以往任何一种SARS-CoV-2（这是COVID-19的正式名称）毒株都快。

It is driving up infection rates in every state of the U.S., prompting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to once again recommend universal mask-wearing.

它正在推高美国各州的感染率，导致疾病控制和预防中心再次建议全民佩戴口罩。

The Delta outbreak is going to get much worse, warns Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist who leads the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

明尼苏达大学传染病研究和政策中心负责人、流行病学家迈克尔·奥斯特霍尔姆警告说，德尔塔病毒带来的疫情暴发将变得更加严重。

"The number of intensive-care beds needed could be higher than any time we've seen," he says.

他说：“所需的重症监护床位数量可能比我们见过的任何时候都要多。”

He adds that his team's analysis shows that almost every single one of the 100 million unvaccinated Americans who hasn't had COVID-19 yet will likely get it in the coming months,

他补充说，他们团队的分析显示，在接下来的几个月里，未接种疫苗且还未感染新冠病毒的1亿美国人中，几乎每一个人都有可能感染，

short of taking the sort of strong isolation⁷ and masking precautions that seem unlikely in the vaccine-hesitant population.

除非采取强有力的隔离和口罩预防措施，而在对接种疫苗态度犹豫的人群中，这种预防措施似乎不太可能。

1 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。

2 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

3 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

4 receded   

v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• The floodwaters have now receded. 洪水现已消退。
• The sound of the truck receded into the distance. 卡车的声音渐渐在远处消失了。

5 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

6 variants   

n.变体( variant的名词复数 )；变种；变型；（词等的）变体

参考例句：

• Those variants will be preserved in the'struggle for existence". 这些变异将在“生存竞争”中被保留下来。 来自辞典例句
• Like organisms, viruses have variants, generally called strains. 与其他生物一样，病毒也有变种，一般称之为株系。 来自辞典例句

7 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。