US University Defends Against Coronavirus

On its large campus in the middle of America, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is trying to keep the fast-spreading coronavirus away from its students.

The school has one of the highest percentages of Chinese students among U.S. universities. It has closed study programs in China for the spring and banned students from traveling to the country for school-related purposes. It has told teachers to follow federal travel advisories¹ that warned against going to China.

"We want to take all of the precautions we can so...we keep our community healthy," said Robin² Kaler. She is associate chancellor³ for public affairs at the University of Illinois, 217 kilometers south of Chicago. The first human-to-human transmission of the disease in the United States was confirmed in Illinois.

More than 350,000 Chinese students are studying at universities and colleges in America. Also, about 10,000 American students attend school in China.

Many of the Chinese students in the U.S. have traveled to China in recent weeks, which makes it possible that the virus might spread at universities.

"Colleges and universities are very much on the front line of those because of our role as global institutions," said Sarah Van Orman. She is chief health officer at the University of Southern California (USC).

In the American capital of Washington, D.C., public health officials say the risk of catching⁴ the virus remains⁵ low. Doctors, however, continue to see patients who are worried that their infection might be the coronavirus.

The administration of President Donald Trump⁶ declared a national public health emergency on Friday.

In medical centers and hospitals, doctors are preparing emergency systems and studying protocols⁸ in case the virus does begin to spread.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Sunday that 11 cases of the Wuhan coronavirus had been confirmed in the U.S. They were in California, Washington state, Illinois, Massachusetts and Arizona. Officials expect that number to rise. Several possible coronavirus cases are being investigated in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

Last week, the State Department advised Americans not to travel to China, where the number of deaths is in the hundreds.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that cause disease in people and animals. They are responsible for sicknesses like the common cold and more serious diseases like severe acute respiratory syndrome⁹ (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).

Though much is unknown about the Wuhan coronavirus, health officials have advised that signs of the disease usually appear within two to 14 days. The signs can include high temperature, coughing and trouble breathing

Words in This Story

campus – n. the area around a university, college or school

precaution – n. something that is done to prevent possible harm or trouble from happening in the future

chancellor – n. the head of some U.S. universities

transmission – n. the act or process by which something is spread or passed from one person or thing to another

role –n. the part something or someone plays

protocol⁷ – n. a system of rules that explain the correct conduct and procedures to be followed in formal situations

respiratory – adj. of or relating to breathing or the organs of the body that are used in breathing

syndrome – n. a disease or disorder that involves a particular group of signs and symptoms

1 advisories   

n.（有关进展、动向、建议等的）报告( advisory的名词复数 )；公告；通告；通报

参考例句：

• Compliance with Practice Advisories is optional. 是否遵守实务公告由审计师自行选择决定。 来自互联网
• Hardened-PHP: not as such a PHP security information website, but it does have security advisories. 增强PHP:不仅仅是一个PHP安全新的网站，它还提供安全建议。 来自互联网

2 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

3 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

4 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 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。

7 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

8 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

9 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。