英国出现新冠病毒新变种 欧洲多国中断与英国交通

日前，英国卫生大臣汉考克表示，英国发现的高传染性新冠病毒新毒株已经失去控制，政府宣布疫情防控级别将提升至第四级。消息传出后，德国、意大利、法国等多个欧洲国家相继停飞往返英国航班。

France announced on Sunday that it has implemented a 48-hour ban on travel to Britain, joining a growing number of European countries halting travel to Britain after a new strain of the coronavirus was detected in that country. At least six European countries have announced flights will cease if they haven't done so already, while France and Belgium have banned train travel.

法国12月20日宣布，对英国实施48小时的旅行禁令。在英国境内检测到新冠病毒的一个新变种毒株后，欧洲多国相继中断与英国交通。至少6个欧洲国家已宣布往返英国航班将停飞或已停飞，而法国和比利时已经停运往返英国的火车。

French officials said the 48-hour stoppage would give them time to find a "common doctrine" to stop the spread of the new COVID-19 variant. French President Emmanuel Macron tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday.

法国官员称，48小时旅行禁令将让他们有时间制定阻止新冠病毒新变种传播的“共同准则”。法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙上周四（12月17日）新冠病毒检测为阳性。

Germany, which holds the EU presidency, called a special crisis meeting for Monday to coordinate a response.

目前担任欧盟主席国的德国计划在12月21日召开特别紧急会议来协调响应机制。

Top health officials in Britain say a new, fast-moving variant of the coronavirus could be up to 70% more transmissible than previous ones. This strain appears to be driving the rapid spread in London and southern England. But there is no evidence the new strain is deadlier or would react differently to the vaccine, according to BBC News.

英国高级卫生官员称，一种快速传播的新冠病毒新变种传染性可能比之前的毒株高出70%。据BBC 新闻报道，这一毒株似乎加速了伦敦和英格兰南部新冠疫情的蔓延。但是没有证据表明这一新毒株更致命，或对疫苗会产生不同的反应。

As a result of the new strain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Saturday a new tier of coronavirus restrictions, the strictest yet, and canceled the planned five-day Christmas relaxation period that had been planned from December 23 through 27.

因为新毒株的出现，英国首相鲍里斯·约翰逊上周六（12月19日）宣布了有史以来最严格的一套防疫限制新措施，取消了原定为期五天（12月23日至27日）的圣诞节放松管控计划。

"I know how much emotion people invest in this time of year, and how important it is for grandparents to see their grandchildren," Johnson said Saturday. "But when the virus changes its method of attack, we must change our method of defense."

约翰逊上周六表示：“我知道人们对这个节日倾注了多少感情，也知道祖父母们是多么盼望见到孙儿，但是当病毒改变攻击方式时，我们也必须改变我们的防御方式。”

Johnson also said the capital and other areas in southern England currently under Tier 3 — the highest level of coronavirus restrictions — will move to an even stricter new Tier 4 that requires all non-essential shops, hairdressers and indoor leisure venues to close after the end of business hours Saturday.

约翰逊还表示，伦敦和英格兰南部的其他地区目前实行的都是疫情暴发以来最严格的三级封锁限制措施，而且即将在周六营业时间结束后实行更严格的四级限制措施，这一新限制措施要求所有非必要的商店、美发店和室内娱乐场所关闭。

Videos went viral on Saturday night of Britons packing London train stations in a last-minute scramble to leave the city ahead of Christmas. British health secretary Matt Hancock described the rush to travel a "totally irresponsible behavior," according to Sky News.

周六晚上英国人涌向伦敦火车站赶在圣诞节前离开伦敦的视频在网上被疯传。根据天空新闻台的报道，英国卫生大臣马修·汉考克将此次扎堆出行称为“完全不负责任的行为”。

US Surgeon General Jerome Adams said on "Face the Nation" on Sunday that the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization are investigating the new strain. But he stressed that even if it is found to be more contagious, it reinforces the importance of following existing social distancing guidelines.

美国卫生局局长杰罗姆·亚当斯上周日在《面向全国》节目上表示，美国传染病研究所、疾控中心和世界卫生组织正在研究这一新毒株。但是他强调，即使研究发现这一新毒株传染性更强，也只会加强遵从现有社交隔离指导方针的重要性。

"Well, very important for people to know that viruses mutate all the time, and that does not mean that this virus is any more dangerous," Adams said. "We don't even know if it's really more contagious yet or not or if it just happened to be a strain that was involved in a superspreader event. Right now, we have no indications that it is going to hurt our ability to continue vaccinating people or that it is any more dangerous or deadly than the strains that are currently out there and that we know about."

亚当斯说：“让人们知道病毒一直在变异很重要，但这不意味着这种病毒更加危险。我们甚至都不知道新毒株是否真的更具传染性，或者只是和超级传播者有关的一种毒株。当前，没有迹象表明这一新毒株会损害我们继续为人们接种疫苗的能力，或者新毒株比已有和已知毒株更危险或更致命。”