epdemic（世卫组织宣布:新冠肺炎成为“大流行病”）

11日，世界卫生组织总干事谭德塞在日内瓦举行的例行记者会上称，新冠肺炎已成为“大流行病”（a pandemic /pænˈdemɪk/）。

"WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels ofinaction,"WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesussaid."We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic."

世界卫生组织总干事谭德塞说：“世卫组织日以继夜地评估这次疫情，疫情惊人的传播速度和严重程度，以及一些国家的不作为都令我们深感担忧。因此我们评估认为，新冠肺炎疫情从特征上可称为大流行。”

▌什么是大流行病（pandemic）

According to the WHO, a pandemic is "an epidemic occurring worldwide, or over a very wide area, crossing international boundaries and usually affecting a large number of people."

根据世卫组织的定义，大流行病“是一种蔓延至全世界，或跨越国界、蔓延至极广泛区域，通常影响大量人群的流行病。”

如果疫情只局限于特定国家或区域，就只能算流行病（epidemic）。

延伸阅读：Epidemic、pandemic和plague：英语中这几种“疫”有什么区别

谭德塞说，“大流行病”不是一个可以随便使用的词。

Tedros said that pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. "It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death," he said.

谭德塞说，“大流行病”不是一个可以轻易或随便使用的词。他说，“这个词一旦被滥用，会引发过度恐慌，或让人们无理由地认命，觉得抗争已经结束，导致不必要的伤亡。”

他说，过去两周中国以外新冠肺炎确诊病例数增长了13倍，受影响国家和地区数增加了两倍；目前114个国家和地区的确诊病例累计超过11.8万例，死亡病例达到4291例，还有数以千计的人在医院里为生存而战。

Over the last two weeks the number of cases of COVID-19 outside China has increased 13-fold and the number of affected countries has tripled, Tedrossaid at a news conference in Geneva.The viral disease has swept into at least 114 countries and killed more than 4,000 people.

未来几周内预计确诊病例数、死亡人数、以及受影响国家和地区数量还将进一步攀升。

"In the days and weeks ahead, we expect to see the number of cases, the number of deaths, and the number of affected countries climb even higher," Tedrossaid.

他再次呼吁各国采取紧急的、积极的行动。

"We have never before seen a pandemic sparked by a coronavirus. And we have never before seen a pandemic that can be controlled at the same time," he said."We have called every day for countries to take urgent and aggressive action. We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear."

他说：“我们以前从未见过冠状病毒引发的大流行。我们以前也从未见过得到控制的大流行。我们每天都在呼吁各国采取紧急、积极的行动。我们已经敲响了警钟，响亮而清晰。”

谭德塞强调，将新冠肺炎疫情描述为“大流行”不会改变世卫组织对其威胁的评估，“它不会改变世卫组织正在做的事情，也不会改变各国应该做的事情”。

The WHO chief said that describing the situation as a pandemic does not change the organization's assessment of the threat posed by the virus, nor does it change what the WHO is doing or what actions countries should take.

他援引世卫组织数据说，全球114个国家和地区报告的11.8万例病例中，有90%集中于4个国家，其中中国和韩国疫情严重程度已经显著下降。此外，有81个国家和地区仍未报告任何病例，有57个仅报告了10例或更少病例。

Of the 118,000 cases reported globally in 114 countries, more than 90 percent are in four countries: China, Italy, South Korea and Iran. WHO figures suggest that in two of those countries, China and South Korea, the epidemic is significantly declining.

3月11日，在瑞士日内瓦，世界卫生组织总干事谭德塞（中）出席新闻发布会。新华社记者陈俊侠摄

世卫组织再次敦促那些有少量病例的国家加强排查、检测、治疗、隔离、追踪、以及动员人民，以防止出现聚集性感染甚至发展成社区传播，而已出现社区传播或大范围聚集性感染的国家同样可以扭转趋势。

"If countries detect, test, treat, isolate, trace, and mobilize their people in their response," he said, "those with a handful of cases can prevent those cases from becoming clusters and those clusters from becoming community transmissions."

谭德塞说，虽然大家都在关注“大流行”这个词，但“让我给你一些更重要、更可操作的词：预防、准备、公共卫生、政治领导，最重要的是——人。我们团结在一起，冷静地做正确的事情，保护全世界的公民，这是可行的。”