VOA慢速英语2020 疫情下的医务人员"进退两难"（在线收听）

Medical Workers Risk Lives at Work, Face Attacks on the Way Home

Every night at seven o'clock, New Yorkers step outside their homes to cheer for the medical workers who are treating coronavirus patients. Horns from automobiles and police vehicles add to the cheering.

Some New York restaurants are making meals for doctors and nurses working in the city's hospitals.

Last week, U.S. military airplanes flew over New York and other cities as a show of thanks to healthcare workers.

With all these expressions of thanks, reports of attacks on healthcare workers are surprising.

The World Health Organization, or WHO, and top nursing officials have called on countries to protect nurses and other health workers from physical and verbal attacks. They note that these men and women are already making sacrifices in their lives every day to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Howard Catton is head of the International Council of Nurses. He said that about 100 medical workers are reported to have died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Many nurses were among the dead. Catton spoke to reporters last week.

Even before the virus began to spread, many nurses had difficult jobs. About 28 million people work as nurses. That represents 59 percent of all health workers worldwide.

Last week, WHO officials, the Nursing Now campaign, and the International Council of Nurses released the first "State of the World's Nursing Report."

The report says there are not enough nurses in many areas. The nursing shortages are mainly in low- and lower-middle income countries, it noted.

The number of new nurses does not meet the expected needs in many countries, the report said. It points to some countries where many nurses are nearing retirement age. It said that trained health workers must be ready to do the work of those who have retired.

The report estimates eight percent more workers will be needed each year.

Nursing shortages are an issue in many parts of Africa, in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Venezuela, the report added.

Discrimination and attacks

Although nurses make up the majority of all health workers, the report says their value is not recognized. It notes that 90 percent of nurses are female, and they are often victims of discrimination in the workplace. One surprising fact is that a little over a third of countries – thirty-seven percent - reported measures in place to prevent attacks on health workers.

Some workers have been attacked during the COVID-19 crisis because people fear contagion. A nurse in Mexico reported that someone threw a mixture of water and chlorine at her as she walked home.

Howard Catton said there have been reports from around the world of abuse of health workers.

"It is completely unacceptable," Catton said. He called for governments to stop such abuse and to make sure that public health messages are clear and fact-based.

The WHO's Giorgio Cometto said it was a relatively new experience for people to see health workers as a possible risk, "as opposed to being a solution to the current crisis." He added that in the current pandemic, it is very important to take the necessary steps to protect health workers.

Baroness Mary Watkins, chair of Nursing Now, noted nurses have been attacked in the past. That was during outbreaks of Ebola and HIV, the virus responsible for the disease AIDS.

Watkins said "there has been a very, very clear directive from the police in many countries that attacking a health care worker is unacceptable. We need to keep pressure up," she added.

I'm Jill Robbins.

新冠疫情下的医务人员“进退两难”

每晚7点，纽约居民都会走出家门，为正在治疗新冠病毒患者的医务人员加油打气。欢呼声伴随着汽车和警车的鸣笛声。

纽约的一些餐馆自发承担起该市医院的医生和护士的伙食。

上周，美国军用飞机飞越纽约等城市向医务人员表示感谢。

随着各种花式表达感恩的举动，关于医务人员遭受攻击的报道也同样令人惊讶。

世卫组织以及高级护理官员呼吁各国保护护士和其他医务人员免受身体和语言攻击。他们指出，这些人舍弃自己的日常生活来抗击新冠病毒大流行。

霍华德·卡顿（Howard Catton）是国际护士理事会的负责人。他说，据报道，约有100名医务人员因新冠病毒引发的新冠肺炎殉职。他们中有很多都是护士。卡顿上周对记者发表了上述讲话。

甚至在该病毒传播之前，很多护士的工作就已经很棘手。大约有2800万人从事护士工作。这占到了全球所有医务人员的59%。

上周，世卫组织官员、“护理在行动”运动以及国际护士理事会发布了首份《世界护理状况报告》。

报告称，很多地区都存在护士不充足的现象。报告指出，护士短缺主要集中在中低收入国家。

报告称，许多国家的新增护士人数无法满足预期需求。报告指出，一些国家的很多护士已经接近退休年龄。报告称，有训练有素的医务人员必须准备好接替退休护士的工作。

该报告预计，每年需要增加8%的护士。

报告补充说，在非洲许多地区、阿富汗、巴基斯坦、也门和委内瑞拉，护士短缺都是一个问题。

歧视和攻击

尽管护士占到了所有医务人员的大多数，但是该报告称，她们的价值并没有得到认可。报告指出，90%的护士是女性，她们通常是职场歧视的受害者。一个令人惊讶的事实是略高于三分之一的国家（占37%）报告称已采取措施防止医务人员被攻击。

在新冠肺炎危机期间，一些医务人员受到攻击，因为人们担心病毒会蔓延。墨西哥的一名护士报告称，回家的路上曾被人扔消毒水。

卡顿表示，世界各地都有辱骂医务人员的报道。

卡顿说：“这是完全不能接受的。”他呼吁各国政府制止这种辱骂行为，并确保公共卫生信息清晰明确并且基于事实。

世卫组织的乔治·科莫托（Giorgio Cometto）表示，将医务人员视为潜在风险，是一种相对较新的体验，而不是当前危机的解决方案。他还指出，在当前大流行之下，采取必要措施保护医务人员至关重要。

“护理在行动”运动的主席玛丽·沃特金斯男爵夫人称，护士过去也曾遭受过攻击。那是在埃博拉病毒和艾滋病毒爆发期间。

沃特金斯表示：“在许多国家，警方已经发出了非常明确的指示，攻击医务人员是不可接受的。我们需要继续这种压力警告。”

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