WHO: More COVID Deaths after Holiday Gatherings

2024-01-12 10:30:30来源：网络

WHO: More COVID Deaths after Holiday Gatherings

世卫组织：节日聚会后新冠死亡人数增加

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　　By Hai Do

　　11 January 2024

　　The World Health Organization (WHO) says holiday gatherings and the spread of a new COVID-19 variant led to increased hospitalizations and deaths last month.

　　WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that nearly 10,000 deaths were reported in December. He added that hospitalizations during the month jumped 42 percent in nearly 50 countries.

　　Tedros said, "Although 10,000 deaths a month is far less than the peak of the pandemic, this level of preventable deaths is not acceptable."

　　Tedros said it was "certain" that cases of COVID-19 were increasing in other places that have not been reporting case numbers.

　　Tedros said the JN.1 variant is now the most common in the world. Since it is an Omicron variant, current vaccines should still provide some protection. Health officials in the U.S. say there is no evidence that JN.1 causes more severe disease than recent variants.

　　In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that there have been at least 110,000 hospitalizations and 6,500 deaths from the flu since October.

　　The agency added that COVID-19 illnesses were not increasing as quickly flu illnesses. Still, COVID-19 is putting more people in the hospital than the flu.

　　Maria Van Kerkhove is the technical lead at WHO for COVID-19. She said there is an increase in respiratory diseases around the world due to COVID-19, flu and pneumonia.

　　"We expect those trends to continue into January through the winter months in the northern hemisphere," Van Kerkhove said. She added there have also been increases in COVID-19 in the southern hemisphere, where it is now summer.

　　WHO officials suggest that people get vaccinated, wear face coverings, and make sure air can move in and out of indoor areas.

　　Michael Ryan is the head of emergencies at the WHO. He said, "The vaccines may not stop you from being infected, but the vaccines are certainly reducing significantly your chance of being hospitalized or dying."

　　I'm Ashley Thompson.

　　Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English based on reporting from The Associated Press and the CDC.

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　　作者：Hai Do

　　日期：2024年1月11日

　　世界卫生组织（WHO）表示，节日聚会和新型COVID-19变异病毒的传播导致上个月的住院和死亡人数增加。

　　世卫组织总干事谭德塞·阿达诺姆·格布雷苏斯周三表示，12月份报告了近10,000例死亡。他补充说，该月在近50个国家的住院人数增加了42%。

　　谭德塞说：“尽管每月10,000例死亡远低于疫情的高峰，但这种程度的可预防死亡是不可接受的。”

　　谭德塞表示，可以“确定”的是，COVID-19的病例在其他未报告病例数量的地方正在增加。

　　谭德塞说，JN.1变异现在是世界上最常见的。由于它是Omicron变异，现有的疫苗应该仍能提供一些保护。美国的卫生官员表示，没有证据表明JN.1比最近的变异病毒引起更严重的疾病。

　　在美国，疾病控制和预防中心（CDC）报告说，自10月以来，至少有110,000例住院和6,500例因流感死亡。

　　该机构补充说，COVID-19的疾病并没有像流感疾病那样快速增加。然而，COVID-19比流感让更多的人住院。