2021年8月，新冠疫情仍然肆虐全球。由于新型变异毒株的不断出现，人类面临新挑战。美国传染病学会（ISDA）在8月3日发布的一份简报显示，新冠病毒变种德尔塔（Delta）的传播已经将达成群体免疫所需的人口比例提升到了80%，甚至接近90%，远高于世卫组织此前公布的60%最低阈值。在此情况下，疫苗仍是我们当下手中最有力的武器，各国只有团结合作，才能打赢全球抗疫之战。▲图片来源：Development and Cooperation网站
Dr. Robert Murphy: “The vaccine is about 90% effective against the Delta variant, so one person in 10 who gets vaccinated and is exposed to SARS-CoV-2 will have a breakthrough infection.”罗伯特·墨菲教授认为：“疫苗对德尔塔变种的有效率约为90%，因此每10个接种疫苗并接触到新冠病毒的人中就出现一个突破性感染病例。”（英文摘自2021.08.07 Scitech daily网站）There is a lot left to learn about Lambda. The variant is not nearly as worrisome as the Delta variant in the US, which has been driving a rise in cases nationwide, but early studies suggest that it has mutations that make it more transmissible than the original strain of the coronavirus.人们对于拉姆达变种还有诸多未知。该变种在美国还没有德尔塔变种那样令人担忧，后者一直在推动全美范围内的病例上升，但早期研究表明，拉姆达上发生的变异使其比新冠的原始毒株更具传播性。▲图片来源：Council of Europe网站2、caught off-guard 毫无防备、措手不及It may seem surprising that scientists were caught off-guard by the rapid emergence of a more dangerous （Delta） variant.大家可能不会预想到科学家们被一个更危险的变种病毒（德尔塔）的迅速出现弄得措手不及。（英文摘自2021.08.04 Newsweek网站）The moves reinforced the impression that the Biden administration was somehow caught off-guard by delta, after the president had previously won high marks in opinion surveys for his handling of the pandemic.这些举动让人们更强烈的认为拜登政府被德尔塔变种打了个措手不及，在此之前拜登本来因其对新冠疫情的处理在民意调查中赢得了高分。（英文摘自2021.07.31 Bloomberg网站）3、bubble 泡沫（指疫情暴发期间，人们形成的一个封闭的小群体或者小圈子）The isolation bubble system that Olympic organisers have set up at the Tokyo Games village to control COVID-19 is already broken, and there is a risk that infections could spread more widely from inside it, a prominent public health expert said on Tuesday.一位著名的公共卫生专家在周二表示，奥运组织者在东京奥运会村设立用以控制新冠疫情的隔离泡沫系统已经被打破，存在着感染可能从泡沫里面往外更广泛地传播的风险。（英文摘自2021.07.20 Reuters网站）The Delta variant of COVID-19 is now the dominant strain worldwide, accompanied by a surge of deaths around the United States almost entirely among unvaccinated people, U.S. officials said on Friday.根据美国官员周五的说法，德尔塔新冠变异毒株已经成为全球主流毒株，随之而来的是美国未接种疫苗的人群死亡率的上升。（英文摘自2021.07.17 Reuters网站）Lifting some U.S. public health measures and interventions “gave people a sense that the panic was waning,” Piltch-Loeb says. That euphoria blinded many to the worldwide reality, which remains bleak.（纽约大学全球公共卫生学院副研究员）Piltch-Loeb说，美国解除了一些公共卫生和干预措施“让人们感觉新冠的危机正在减弱”。这种欣快感使许多人对全世界惨淡的现实视而不见。 （英文摘自2021.08.07 National Geographic网站）6、neutralizing antibodies 中和抗体Scientists in Italy last year published a study that showed neutralizing antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus were found in blood taken from healthy volunteers in the country in October 2019 during a lung cancer screening trial.意大利的科学家们去年发表了一项研究，显示在2019年10月的肺癌筛查试验中，从该国健康志愿者的血液中发现了针对新冠病毒的中和抗体。（英文摘自2021.07.24 Reuters网站）The WHO and the US are under pressure from a worldwide clamour to act on the petitions calling for the investigation of Fort Detrick in connection to tracing the origins of the novel coronavirus that is waging havoc across countries and continents.世卫组织和美国正面临来自全世界的压力，人们呼吁对德特里克堡进行调查，以追溯正在各国和各大洲肆虐的新冠病毒的源头。（英文摘自2021.08.08 ASEAN Post网站）中国论坛『热词解码』栏目，旨在通过中英双语解读热门词汇，帮助大家进一步了解国际热议话题及地道的英语表达方式
