VOA健康报道2023--New COVID-19 Variant Expands Internationally

International health officials are closely following a new version of COVID-19 as it spreads to more countries.

The version, or variant¹, is called BA.2.86. Officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) say it has already been identified in several countries, including the United States, Switzerland, South Africa, Israel, Denmark and Britain.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently spoke³ to reporters about the latest COVID-19 developments. He said the new COVID-19 variants⁴ show that the virus remains⁵ a health threat around the world.

Tedros noted⁶ the latest data show that COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations are decreasing. But he added that the agency had seen "increasing reports of hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths in some countries." ICU is a short form for the term intensive care unit, part of a hospital that cares for very sick patients.

Maria Van Kerkhove is with the WHO's Health Emergencies Program. She said that, as of last week, only about 10 cases of the BA.2.86 variant had been found worldwide. But Van Kerkhove added that health officials are worried because the variant appears to have more than 30 genetic⁷ mutations.

She said the WHO is currently trying to closely follow the movements of the latest virus variants. The efforts include taking wastewater samples from different cities to follow where COVID-19 is spreading. In addition, such methods can help officials learn how fast current variants are spreading and how severe they are. "Governments cannot drop the ball," Van Kerkhove said.

Health officials say BA.2.86 broke off from the Omicron variant, which has been spreading in the U.S. at least since last year. It was first discovered in Denmark on July 24.

Some international scientists have said that while it is important to keep following BA.2.86, the variant was unlikely to cause a new, harmful wave of infections. This is because much of the population has built up defenses against COVID-19 because of vaccinations⁸ or previous infection.

Testing new vaccines⁹

Scientists are currently testing how effective newly created COVID-19 vaccines will work against BA.2.86. Van Kerkhove noted that in the past, vaccines have been better at preventing severe sickness and death than blocking re-infections. U.S. health officials said earlier this month the latest COVID-19 vaccines are set to be released sometime in September.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) completed a risk report on the new variant last week. The report said BA.2.86 may be capable of causing infection in vaccinated¹⁰ people and those who had COVID-19 before. But officials noted there is so far no evidence that the new variant is causing more severe sickness than earlier ones.

The WHO said COVID-19 testing has dropped by 90 percent worldwide from the highest point of the pandemic. Testing rates have also fallen sharply in the U.S., and genetic sequencing is down by around 90 percent, said Dr. Ashish Jha. He served as the White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator¹¹ until June 2023.

Jha said data from hospital stays, emergency room visits, deaths, wastewater testing and sequencing efforts had given health officials improved information about current virus spread.

Words in This Story

mutate – v. to cause a gene² to change and create an unusual characteristic in a plant or animal

sample – n. a small amount of something that gives you information about the thing it was taken from

drop the ball – idiom to make a mistake, especially by not taking action or dealing¹² with something that should have planned for

sequence – v. to combine things in a particular order, or discover the order in which they are expressed

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 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 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

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 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

8 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

10 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

11 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

12 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。