VOA健康报道2022 世卫组织称奥密克戎新毒株推高全球确诊和死亡病例（在线收听）

The World Health Organization (WHO) says COVID cases increased by 18 percent around the world in the last week. The rise is mostly due to the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron versions, or variants, of the virus.

世卫组织表示，上周全球新冠肺炎病例增长了18%。这次上升主要是由于新冠病毒奥密克戎变种的BA.4 和 BA.5版本。

Cases increased the most in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas.

中东、东南亚、欧洲和美洲的病例增加最多。

The United Nations health agency said 4.1 million new cases were reported last week around the world. Deaths increased in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the Americas. But the total number worldwide stayed the same as the week before -- at about 8,500.

这家联合国卫生机构表示，上周全球报告了410万例新增病例。中东、东南亚和美洲的死亡人数有所增长。但是全球死亡总人数与前一周持平，均为8500人左右。

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said cases were on the rise in 110 countries because of the fast-spreading Omicron variants. Omicron was first discovered in southern Africa in November 2021.

世卫组织总干事谭德赛表示，由于这种传播迅速的奥密克戎变种，有110个国家的病例呈上升趋势。奥密克戎变种于2021年11月在南非首次被发现。

In a news briefing, Tedros said "the pandemic is changing but it is not over." He also noted that the health agency's ability to study the virus is "under threat," as nations around the world are decreasing their efforts to track COVID. He said less genetic sequencing will make it harder to notice new and possibly dangerous variants.

谭德赛在新闻发布会上表示：“这场大流行病正在发生变化，但是还没有结束。”他还指出，该卫生机构研究病毒的能力受到威胁，因为世界各国都在减少追踪新冠肺炎的努力。他说，减少基因测序将使发现新的以及可能危险的变异变得更加困难。

Tedros called again for nations to vaccinate people most at risk, including healthcare workers and people over 60. He said hundreds of millions of people remain unvaccinated and at risk of severe disease and death.

谭德赛再次呼吁各国为高风险人群接种疫苗，包括医护人员以及60岁以上群体。他说，仍然有数亿人未接种疫苗，面临重症和死亡的风险。

The rate of immunization stands at about 13 percent in poor countries. About 1.2 billion vaccines have been given out around the world.

贫穷国家的免疫接种率约为13%。大约有12亿支疫苗已经被分发到世界各地。

Tedros said it is hard to believe that some people might suggest poor countries "should not boost and vaccinate their most at-risk (people)." He noted rich countries are vaccinating children as young as 6 months and are planning new vaccination efforts.

谭德赛表示，人们很难相信，有些人会建议贫困国家“不应当为他们最危险的人群提供加强针或疫苗接种”。他指出，发达国家正在为小到6个月的儿童接种疫苗，并计划开展新一轮疫苗接种工作。

Charity organization Oxfam and the People's Vaccine Alliance say less than half of the 2.1 billion vaccines promised by the Group of Seven large economies have been delivered.

慈善机构乐施会以及人民疫苗联盟表示，七国集团承诺的21亿支疫苗中只有不到一半已经完成交付。

In June, the United States began offering vaccinations for babies and very young children. The U.S. has also started to work on boosters for later this year that would target the latest COVID variants.

今年6月，美国开始为婴幼儿提供疫苗接种。美国也已经开始致力于在今年晚些时候针对最新新冠肺炎变体接种加强针。