随着新冠肺炎在全球持续肆虐，疫情给非洲大陆投下的阴影也在加重。 2月中旬，埃及官方宣布发现了非洲的首例新冠肺炎确诊病例。在这之后，确诊病例也在其他非洲国家陆续出现。 根据美国约翰斯·霍普金斯大学4月13日的数据显示，非洲已有1.5万余人确诊感染新冠肺炎，800多人死亡。 The COVID-19 pandemic is ravaging the world and Africa is not spared. Since the continent reported its first case in Egypt in mid-February, some 15,000 cases and 800 deaths have been confirmed, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University on Monday.
目前，非洲仅莱索托、科摩罗两国暂未报告确诊病例。南非、埃及、阿尔及利亚以及摩洛哥等国的确诊病例数都已破千。 The novel coronavirus has spread to almost all African nations. Only two countries, Comoros and Lesotho, have yet to report a case of infection. South Africa (with 2,272 cases), Egypt (2,190), Algeria (1,983) and Morocco (1,783) have all passed the grim milestone of over 1,000 cases. 和其他一些国家相比，非洲国家的新冠肺炎传播速度似乎没有那么快。但专家提醒，目前的情况并不代表非洲国家能够有效控制住疫情。 Compared with elsewhere in the world, infections in African countries seem to be rising at a slower pace. But this does not mean the continent has brought the outbreak under control, said experts. 作为非洲最发达的国家，南非病毒检测能力和医疗卫生水平远胜其他非洲国家，这也是南非报告确诊病例较多的重要原因。 目前，南非已做了8万多例新冠肺炎检测。而与之相比， 非洲人口最多的尼日利亚只做了5000多例检测。其他一些非洲国家，检测能力更是不足。 In South Africa, stronger testing abilities and better healthcare system enabled it to conduct more tests than any other country on the continent, which resulted in more cases being found. Africa's most industrialized nation reported by far the highest number of COVID-19 infections after testing over 80,000 people, compared with merely 5,000 tests to date in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country. Testing capabilities could be more worrying in other African nations. 居住环境密集、饮用水源不安全、缺乏卫生设施、医疗卫生系统落后等种种因素让非洲在疫情之下面临更高的风险。而保持社交距离、勤洗手这些基本的防疫措施，在非洲实施也并不容易。 Africa, the least developed continent, is especially vulnerable to the raging pandemic with its densely populated markets and housing, poor access to safe water and sanitation facilities, and fragile health systems. Under such conditions, it is hard to carry out even basic protective measures such as social distancing and hand-washing. 在世界卫生组织4月10日召开的疫情通报会上，总干事谭德塞提出要重点关注非洲的疫情情况：“我想着重谈一谈非洲。我们看到在非洲，病毒正在向农村地区蔓延。目前我们看到16个以上非洲国家出现聚集性病例和社区传播。我们预计，本已捉襟见肘的卫生系统将面临严重困难，特别是在农村地区。农村地区通常缺乏城市卫生系统那样的资源。” "I want to take a moment to highlight Africa, where we are seeing the spread of the virus to rural areas. We are now seeing clusters of cases and community spread in more than 16 countries. We anticipate severe hardship for already overstretched health systems, particularly in rural areas, which normally lack the resources of those in cities," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus last Friday. 在非洲国家中，阿尔及利亚的病死率最高，接近16%。它也是目前世界上病死率最高的国家之一。 据世界卫生组织非洲区域主任介绍，非洲的新冠肺炎治愈率也低于其他地区。 Algeria has become the country with the highest COVID-19 fatalities in Africa. Its near 16 percent fatality rate is among the highest in the world. The recovery rates in Africa are also slightly lower than that of other regions, said WHO's regional director for Africa. 为了遏制疫情的蔓延，至少已有10个非洲国家采取了封锁、宵禁等管控措施；还有很多国家严格限制旅行，关闭了空中和陆地边境。 南非从3月27日起实行为期21天的全国性封锁。4月9日，南非政府宣布将正在实行的“封锁令”延长14天，至4月底结束。尼日利亚、刚果（金）等国也对国内一些城市实施“封锁令”。 To contain the virus' spread, at least 10 African countries have imposed lockdowns and curfews, and many more have closed their air and land borders aimed at stemming the spread of the coronavirus. South Africa has extended a lockdown to the end of April. The lockdown, which started on March 27, is one of the toughest measures imposed by an African government. Nigeria has locked down its largest city Lagos, a suburb of the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo also followed suit. 虽然为遏制疫情蔓延，封锁、宵禁、限航等防疫措施都不可避免。但也有专家提醒，采取这些措施在非洲可能会引起巨额经济损失、粮食安全危机、人道主义危机等问题。 非洲联盟的一份最新报告显示，非洲约有2000万个就业岗位将因疫情受到威胁；超过三分之一的非洲人口已经生活在贫困线以下。 世界银行在一份报告中预测，疫情冲击下非洲撒哈拉以南地区将出现25年以来首次经济衰退。 新冠肺炎这场公共卫生危机也正在危及非洲的农业产业链，导致粮食供应不足和粮价上涨。联合国粮农组织表示，沙漠蝗虫灾害已对非洲粮食供应造成严重影响，而新冠肺炎疫情可能会导致非洲粮食安全问题加剧。 However, prevention measures like lockdowns, curfews and suspensions of international flights, though inevitable, risk huge enormous economic costs, food crisis, and even humanitarian disasters, experts warned. A recent African Union report said that nearly 20 million jobs on the continent "are threatened with destruction." More than a third of the African population already lives below the poverty line. A World Bank report published last week forecast sub-Saharan Africa will fall into its first recession in 25 years due to the pandemic. The outbreak is disrupting the continent's agricultural market chains, leading to shortages of food and price increases. Africa is especially vulnerable right now with desert locust infestations already threatening the continent's food supply, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. 非洲疾病控制与预防中心主任约翰·肯格松表示，新冠肺炎疫情让人口近13亿的非洲大陆面临“存亡危机”。 非洲的疫情如若不能得到及时控制，对于全球的防控工作也十分不利。中国呼吸病学专家钟南山曾表示：“任何一个国家暴发，全世界都不可能安宁。” In the words of John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the COVID-19 pandemic "is an existential threat" to the continent with a population of 1.3 billion. The world "can't be at peace as long as there is an outbreak in any country," said Chinese respiratory disease specialist Zhong Nanshan. 非洲数十年来饱受疟疾、艾滋病、结核病等疾病困扰，也尚未从埃博拉病毒肆虐中恢复。 当前新冠肺炎疫情袭来，“一波未平一波又起”。刚果（金）卫生官员原计划在4月12号宣布本轮埃博拉疫情结束，然而该国当天再次确诊了一例新的埃博拉病例。 For decades, Africa has been plagued by malaria, AIDS as well as tuberculosis and has yet to recover from the Ebola virus. Amidst the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Democratic Republic of Congo has reported a new Ebola case as it was counting down to the end of the epidemic. 在上月召开的二十国集团领导人“特别峰会”上，各成员国也表示在当前新冠肺炎疫情蔓延全球的情况下，巩固非洲的健康防御能力是增强全球健康复原力的关键。 During the Extraordinary G20 Leaders' Summit last month, major economies in the world have reached a consensus that consolidating Africa's health defense is a key for the resilience of global health. 推荐阅读：