VOA慢速英语2019 由于担忧冠状病毒 唐人街生意惨淡（在线收听）

Asian American businesses are seeing a drop in customers because of fears over the new coronavirus outbreak in China.

由于担心在中国爆发的新型冠状病毒，亚裔美国人企业的客户量有所下降。

In many places, city officials are trying to stop the financial harm with efforts like information campaigns and personal visits to stores and restaurants. They aim to bring attention to the fact that there have been few confirmed cases of the disease in the United States. They say there is no reason to avoid Asian American businesses.

在很多地方，城市官员正试图通过诸如信息宣传活动和亲临商店和饭店等措施来阻止经济损失。他们旨在让人们关注到这样一个事实，那就是在美国几乎没有确诊病例。他们说没有理由要避开亚裔美国人的企业。

The newly opened Asian District in Mesa, Arizona, was organizing a night market for the end of February. Then, news of a case of the illness known as COVID-19 was confirmed at nearby Arizona State University.

亚利桑那州梅萨市新开业的亚洲区将于2月底组织一个夜市。随后附近的亚利桑那州立大学传出了确诊一例新型冠状病毒患者的新闻。

Comments on social media and phone calls started almost immediately, said Vicente Reid. He is chief of the Arizona Asian Chamber of Commerce.

韦森特·里德表示，社交媒体上几乎立刻就有了评论，他的电话也几乎立刻开始响了起来。他是亚利桑那州亚洲商会的负责人。

Reid said, "I probably should stop picking up my phone altogether. "

里德表示：“我也许应该完全不接电话。”

The new coronavirus has sickened tens of thousands of people, mostly in China. Fifteen people in the U.S. have been confirmed to have the virus. All but two had recently traveled to China.

新型冠状病毒已经使得数万人患病，其中大多数患者在中国。美国已经有15人确诊。除了两人以外的其他所有人近期都去过中国。

Fewer people at restaurants

饭店生意惨淡

Vegetarian Dim Sum House has been a popular place to eat in Manhattan's Chinatown for 23 years. But recently, owner Frankie Chu said he will not be able to pay his rent this month.

素食点心屋23年来一直是曼哈顿唐人街的热门就餐地。但是最近，餐厅老板弗兰克·朱表示，他这个月要付不起房租了。

Chu said restaurant sales have dropped 70 percent over the last two weeks. On a recent weekday, just three couples stopped in for lunch. Normally, Chu said he gets up to 30 people for lunch. At dinnertime, his narrow restaurant usually gets about 70 customers. These days, he has about four.

朱表示，过去两周饭店的生意下降了70%。最近的一个工作日，只有3对夫妻进来吃午餐。朱表示，通常情况下，有多达30人进店吃午餐。在晚餐时间，他狭窄的餐厅里通常会吸引约70名顾客。这些天他大约只有4名顾客。

"I don't know how long I can stay here," Chu said. "After 9/11, it wasn't this bad."

朱表示：“我不知道我能维持多久。911之后生意就没有这么惨淡过。”

The situation has concerned New York City officials and business leaders. They have launched a campaign to bring people back to hard-hit communities in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn.

这种状况已经引起了纽约市官员和商业领袖的关注。他们发起了一场将人们带回曼哈顿、皇后区和布鲁克林区这些受冲击严重的社区的活动。

"Chinatown is bleeding," said Wellington Chen. He is executive chairman of the Chinatown Partnership, a local business and community group. "This thing is thousands of miles away. This fear is really out of proportion."

惠林顿·陈表示：“唐人街正在遭受冲击。”他是唐人街合伙企业的执行主席，这是一家当地商业和社区组织。他说：“疫情发生在千里之外。这种担忧完全是小题大做。”

New York City is home to more than 500,000 Chinese Americans, the biggest population of any U.S. city. Some New Yorkers whose families are from China say they feel now like foreigners because of a disease spreading in another country.

纽约市拥有超过50万华裔美国人，是美国华裔人口最多的城市。一些有家人来自中国的纽约人表示，由于一种在其它国家传播的疾病，他们现在感觉像是老外。

"It's a little annoying to be honest," said Christina Seid, owner of the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. Her father started the business 40 years ago.

唐人街冰淇淋厂老板克里斯蒂娜·塞德表示：“说实话这有点烦人。”她的父亲在40年前创办了这家企业。

Her great-grandparents immigrated to New York from China. She said business has been slower than usual but added that the winter months are not busy for ice cream stores. She said she feels hopeful that things will soon return to normal.

她的曾祖父从中国移民到纽约。她表示，生意比平时清淡，但是又说，冰激凌店冬天本来生意就不好。她说希望一切会很快恢复正常。

There have been no confirmed cases of the virus in New York City. Officials and politicians are trying to prove to locals that there is no reason to avoid any neighborhood. Many city leaders have been eating at Chinese restaurants and publishing pictures of themselves doing so, using the hashtag #SupportChinatown.

纽约市没有确诊病例。官员和政客们正试图向当地人证明没有理由要避开任何邻居。很多城市领导人一直在中餐厅就餐，并使用“支持唐人街”的标签发布他们就餐时的照片。

In Boston, Massachusetts, Mayor Marty Walsh has launched a similar social media campaign. He has asked people to share pictures of themselves supporting small businesses in that city's Chinatown with the hashtag #LoveBostonChinatown.

在马萨诸塞州的波士顿市，市长马蒂·沃尔什发起了类似的社交运动。他请求人们使用“热爱波士顿唐人街”的标签分享自己支持该市唐人街小企业的照片。

In the San Francisco Bay Area, the situation is serious enough that Sunny Wong's family is considering temporarily closing one of the four restaurants they own in Oakland Chinatown. Even some of his friends and longtime customers have told him about false stories of people getting sick at one of his restaurants.

在旧金山湾区，情况严重到让沙利·黄的家人开始考虑暂时关闭他们在奥克兰唐人街4家餐厅中的一家。甚至他的一些朋友和老顾客都告诉他关于有人在他的一家餐厅生病的谣言。

"They hear stories and rumors and they just don't really look for the facts in a situation," Wong said.

黄表示：“他们听到故事和谣言，只是不会去探究真相。”

Nom Wah Tea Parlor is the oldest restaurant in Manhattan's Chinatown. Manager Vincent Tang said the restaurant had a 40-percent drop in business over the past three weeks. During a recent weekday, nearly half the tables were empty.

南华茶餐厅是曼哈顿唐人街最古老的餐厅。餐厅经理韦森特·唐表示，过去三周这家餐厅的营业额下降了40%。在最近的一个工作日，近一半的桌子都空着。

Some customers at Nom Wah said they were surprised that others were staying away.

南华茶餐厅的一些顾客表示，他们惊讶于其他顾客不来了。

"It didn't cross my mind at all," said customer Kate Masterson. "It's not happening here," she said of the outbreak.

顾客凯特·马斯特森表示：“我完全没想到。”谈到疫情时她表示：“这里又没发生疫情。”