奥巴马宣布美国进入甲流紧急状态

U.S. President Barack Obama has declared the current swine flu outbreak to be a national emergency, to ease the way for doctors and healthcare facilities to respond more quickly to the growing number of sick people, the White House said Saturday.
美国白宫上周六说，总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)已经宣布美国进入甲型H1N1流感紧急状态，此举旨在医生和医疗机构更为迅速地对数量不断增长的患者做出反应。

The declaration, which Obama signed Friday, authorizes the administration to waive or modify certain federal requirements involving Medicare, Medicaid, and health privacy rules to speed treatment.
奥巴马上周五签署了这一命令，授权政府放弃或修改美国联邦医疗保险(Medicare)、医疗补助计划(Medicaid)以及健康隐私规定中涉及的部分联邦要求，以加速疾病治疗。

'The rates of illness continue to rise rapidly within many communities across the nation, and the potential exists for the pandemic to overburden health care resources in some localities,' Obama wrote in the declaration.
奥巴马在公告中说，疾病感染率正在全国诸多社区迅速上升，一些地区的医疗资源可能不足以应对这一疫病。

The move comes as the flu, known also as 2009 H1N1 flu, has become widespread in 46 states and its death toll since April has topped 1,000. Yet officials are hampered in their efforts to combat its continuing spread because vaccine has been delayed by a series of manufacturing problems and slowdowns.
目前甲型H1N1流感已经扩散至美国46个州，4月份以来已经导致上千人死亡。但一系列生产问题和延迟导致疫苗接种工作受到延误，从而阻碍了政府官员遏制疾病持续传播的举措。

Less than half of the H1N1 vaccine expected to be shipped to doctors, hospitals and clinics in the U.S. this month has been shipped so far, and delays are occurring around the globe, according to U.S. officials.
美国官员说，预计本月交付给美国各地医生、医院和诊所的甲型H1N1流感疫苗，目前只交付了不到一半，全球各地都在出现延误问题。

Reid Cherlin, a White House spokesman, said the declaration was not connected to any recent developments, including the clear and significant delay in vaccine production. Instead, Cherlin said, it was aimed at clearing away government red tape before it becomes an obstacle for health care providers who might otherwise find their systems rapidly overburdened in the weeks ahead.
白宫发言人切尔林(Reid Cherlin)说，总统这一公告与任何近期势态无关，包括疫苗生产明显严重的延误问题。他说，奥巴马此举意在简化政府程序，避免给医疗系统带来障碍；否则，医疗服务提供者可能在未来数周发现他们的系统很快不堪重负。

The declaration could help local health care providers establish special facilities to deal with swine flu outbreaks more rapidly, including the likes of turning a local high school gym into a clinic, or raising a tent in a hospital parking lot to increase urgent-care space, a White House official said.
一位白宫官员说，奥巴马这一公告可能有助于各地医疗服务提供者组建特别设施，更为迅速地应对甲型H1N1流感的爆发，包括有可能将当地中学体育馆转变为诊所，或是在医院停车场搭建帐篷以增加紧急护理场所。