美國新冠死亡人數突破80萬 多數死亡“本來可以避免” 'A terrible tragedy’: US passes 800,000 Covid deaths – highest in the wor
在德爾塔與奧密克戎兩大毒株的肆虐下，美國新冠肺炎死亡病例在12月14日突破80萬。美國成為全球新冠死亡人數最多的國家。儘管美國人口才佔世界人口的4%，新冠死亡人數卻佔了全球新冠死亡總數的15%。
The US death toll from Covid-19 has passed 800,000, a once-unimaginable figure seen as doubly tragic given that more than 200,000 of those lives were lost after vaccines became available last spring.
美國新冠死亡人數日前突破80萬，考慮到其中超20萬人是在今春疫苗上市後喪生的，這個一度難以想象的數字看起來格外可悲。
The figure represents the highest reported toll of any country in the world, and is likely even higher.
這一數字代表着美國成為全世界新冠死亡人數最多的國家，而且真實死亡人數可能更多。
The US accounts for approximately 4% of the world’s population but about 15% of the 5.3 million known deaths from the coronavirus since the outbreak began two years ago.
美國人口只佔世界人口的4%左右，但是自從兩年前暴發疫情以來，美國因此死亡的人數卻佔據了全球新冠死亡總人數（530萬人）的15%。
The grim milestone comes as the world braces for rise in cases of the new Omicron variant, with the World Health Organization (WHO) warning it was spreading at an unprecedented rate.
在這一嚴峻關口下，世界各地正忙於應對不斷增加的奧密克戎新變種毒株感染病例。世界衞生組織警告稱奧密克戎病毒正在以史無前例的速度傳播。
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on Tuesday the variant had been detected in 77 countries and was probably present in most countries worldwide.
世衞組織總幹事譚德塞12月14日告訴記者稱，已在77個國家發現了奧密克戎毒株，該毒株很可能已經傳播到了全球多數國家。
Omicron, first detected by South Africa and reported to the WHO on 24 November, has a large number of mutations, which has concerned scientists. The new variant is posing a fresh threat as it gains a foothold in the US, though experts are not yet sure how dangerous it is.
最早發現於南非並於11月24日報告給世衞組織的奧密克戎毒株含有大量突變，這讓科學家感到擔憂。新毒株入侵美國後形成了新的威脅，而專家還不確定這一毒株到底有多危險。
The number of Covid deaths in the US, compiled and released by Johns Hopkins University on Tuesday, is about equal to the population of Atlanta and St Louis combined, or Minneapolis and Cleveland put together. It is roughly equivalent to how many Americans die each year from heart disease or stroke.
約翰斯·霍普金斯大學12月14日編纂發佈的報告顯示，美國新冠死亡人數大致相當於亞特蘭大和聖路易斯兩個市的人口總和，或者明尼阿波里斯市和克利夫蘭市的人口總和，同美國每年死於心臟病或中風的人數差不多。
A closely watched forecasting model from the University of Washington projects a total of over 880,000 reported deaths in the US by 1 March.
華盛頓大學一個密切關注疫情的預測模型顯示，到明年3月1日，美國報告的新冠死亡人數將會超過88萬。
The deadly milestone comes as cases and hospitalisations are on the rise again in the US, a spike driven by the highly contagious Delta variant, which arrived in the first half of 2021 and now accounts for nearly all infections.
在美國新冠死亡人數突破80萬之際，美國的確診病例數量和住院人數再次上升，罪魁禍首是2021年上半年入侵美國的傳染性超強的德爾塔變種毒株，目前美國幾乎所有病例都是被德爾塔病毒感染的。
Health experts lament that many of the deaths in the US were especially heartbreaking because the widely available and effective vaccines made them preventable.
衞生專家痛惜地表示，美國的許多死亡病例尤其令人感到心碎，因為有效的新冠疫苗已經分發到各地，這些死亡本來是可以防止的。
About 200 million Americans are fully vaccinated, or just over 60% of the population. That is well short of what scientists say is needed to keep the virus in check.
目前約有2億美國人完成疫苗接種，也就剛過美國人口的60%。這一接種率遠遠低於科學家認為遏制病毒傳播所需的水平。
"Almost all the people dying are now dying preventable deaths,” said Dr Chris Beyrer, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “And that’s because they’re not immunized.”
約翰斯·霍普金斯大學布隆伯格公共衞生學院流行病學家克里斯·貝伊勒爾博士稱：“現在新冠病毒導致的幾乎所有死亡本來都是可以防止的。而這正是因為這些人沒有接種疫苗。”
When the vaccine was first rolled out, the country’s death toll stood at about 300,000. It hit 600,000 in mid-June and 700,000 on 1 October.
新冠疫苗剛推出時，美國新冠死亡人數大約為30萬。6月中旬死亡人數達到了60萬，10月1日死亡人數突破了70萬。
Beyrer recalled that in March or April 2020, one of the worst-case scenarios projected upwards of 240,000 American deaths.
貝伊勒爾回憶道，2020年3、4月份時，預測顯示的最糟情況是24萬美國人死於新冠。
"And I saw that number, and I thought that is incredible – 240,000 American deaths?” he said.
他説：“當時，我看到這一數字覺得不可思議，24萬美國人死亡？”
"And we’re now past three times that number.” He added: “And I think it’s fair to say that we’re still not out of the woods.”
“而現在死亡人數已經超過了那個數字的3倍，”他補充道，“我認為完全可以説我們尚未脱離險境。”
英文來源：衞報
翻譯&編輯：丹妮