美国再迎疫情“寒冬”，累计新冠死亡病例数突破80万
最新统计数据显示，当地时间14日，美国累计新冠死亡病例已经超过80万例。就在一天前，美国累计新冠确诊病例突破5000万例。
约翰斯·霍普金斯大学彭博公共卫生学院传染病流行病学家大卫·道迪（David Dowdy）评论道：“这将是我们这一代人注定的悲剧。”
The U.S. COVID-19 death toll surpassed 800,000 on Tuesday, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
It comes as the country recorded over 50 million confirmed cases as of Tuesday.
"This will be a defining tragedy of our generation," David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told ABC News.
累计死亡病例从70万到80万仅用74天
长期以来，美国一直是全球新冠肺炎死亡病例数最多的国家。美国人口占全球总人口不到5%，但美国报告的新冠肺炎死亡病例约占全球总数的15%。
数据显示，2021年2月22日，美国累计报告的新冠肺炎死亡病例数达到50万；113天后的6月15日，美国累计死亡人数超过60万；108天后的10月1日，这一数字超过70万。此后，随着新冠病毒变异株在美国的快速传播，仅过了74天（12月14日）美国累计死亡病例就超过了80万例。
The United States remains the country worst hit by the pandemic with the world's highest caseload and death toll, accounting for more than 18 percent of the global cases and more than 15 percent of global deaths.
The U.S. COVID-19 deaths hit half a million on February 22, topped 600,000 on June 15, and reached 700,000 on October 1. It took 113 days for the national death toll to climb from 500,000 to 600,000, 108 days to jump from 600,000 to 700,000 and 74 days to soar from 700,000 to 800,000.
接种疫苗仍是重中之重
2020年12月，美国启动首批新冠疫苗接种计划；如今，却迎来了死亡病例数突破80万的悲剧事实。
据美国哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS）报道，美国有30 个州报告了大约 75 例奥密克戎毒株感染病例，但德尔塔新冠变种毒株仍占新增病例的99%。
美国疾病控制与预防中心主任罗谢尔·沃伦斯基（Rochelle Walensky）呼吁美国民众尽快完成疫苗接种，以应对奥密克戎毒株。
Despite freely and widely available vaccines, and new treatment options such as monoclonal antibodies, the country has lost more lives to the virus this year than in 2020 due to the more contagious Delta variant and people refusing to get inoculated against COVID-19.
More states in the United States are reporting Omicron cases, with some 75 known cases in 30 states, though the Delta variant still account for 99 percent of new cases, according to CBS News.
In response, health officials are calling on people to get vaccinated and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strengthened its recommendations for booster shots in November.
"We must act together in this moment to address the impact of the current cases we are seeing, which are largely Delta, and to prepare ourselves for the possibility of more Omicron," U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a White House briefing on Tuesday.
此外，疫苗短缺仍然是美国少数族裔群体面临的一大难题。诸多研究显示，美国非洲裔群体的新冠感染率和病亡率相对更高。
在如何应对疫情的问题上，美国两党争斗不休，将抗疫政治化，导致联邦政府和地方政府之间、不同党派主导的州与州之间，抗疫措施力度不一，抗疫资源分配不均，就连戴不戴口罩这样简单的问题都引发了一场“政治大战”，这也使得美国许多地方机构实施强制口罩令成了“违规操作”。
Moreover, the distribution of COVID-19 deaths differs by race and ethnicity in the United States. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adjusting for population age differences, estimated that Native Americans, Latinos and Blacks are two to three times more likely than white people to die of COVID-19, the AP reported.
The nationwide vaccination drive is not an easy job. U.S. President Joe Biden's executive order requiring new contractors to have employees fully vaccinated by January 18, 2022 was blacked by a federal judge on December 7.
Vaccine mandates are deeply controversial in the United States. Supporters say they are a must to put an end to the nearly two-year coronavirus pandemic, while opponents argue they violate the U.S. Constitution and curb individual liberty.
美国儿童发病率高
自秋季复学后，儿童成为美国受疫情冲击最大的群体之一，尤其近期儿童发病率“极高”。美国儿科学会6日发布的报告显示，自疫情暴发以来，美国已有超过700万名儿童确诊感染新冠，过去一周新增儿童确诊病例数超过16.4万例。
COVID-19 infections among children are "extremely high" in the United States during the past two weeks, warned the latest report published by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
"Over 164,000 child cases were added the past week, an increase of nearly 24 percent over the prior week," said the report. As of December 9, nearly 7.2 million children have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic, it added.
专家预计明年死亡人数将破百万
美国西雅图华盛顿大学重症监护肺病学家范·格普塔指出，新冠疫情在美国并没有放缓迹象，他预计明年某个时候，美国的累计新冠死亡人数将达到100万人。
据美国媒体14日援引纽约市一名急诊医生的话，美国一线医务工作者也毫不怀疑，美国累计新冠肺炎死亡病例迟早会突破100万的关口，并且按照目前的轨迹发展，这一天可能会比之前预测的更早到来。
The U.S. death toll will likely hit 1 million at some point in 2022, said Dr. Vin Gupta, a critical care pulmonologist and affiliate associate professor at the University of Washington, in Seattle, according to NBC News.
Another emergency medicine physician at a local hospital in New York City also believes that “there is no question that we will reach 1 million deaths ...”
"At the current trajectory we may reach it much sooner than expected."