【常速英语广播5分钟】英语新闻2020-04-9

:  

---------------------------------------------------------------

说明：小编将此处文本省略了，如有需要者，请留言，或加微信（littleflute）索取，谢谢！

。。。

===========================================

VOA NEWS

April 9, 2020

This is VOA news. Via remote, I'm Diane Roberts.

The United States now has the second most coronavirus deaths in the world behind Italy, according to a tally by Reuters.

Nearly 17,700 people have died in Italy, 14,600 have died in the United States, more than 14,500 people have died in Spain.

As the coronavirus devastates Europe and the United States, scientists in Hong Kong warn lockdown measures in China must be lifted gradually to prevent a "second wave" of COVID-19 infection.

Life is slowly getting back to normal in Wuhan, the virus's origin city, as a nearly 11-week travel ban has been lifted.

The scientists' research showed COVID-19 was deadly and less than one percent of cases outside of Hubei province where Wuhan is located, but within the hardest-hit province mortality was at 5.91 percent.

A geneticist at New York University says the coronavirus strain identified in New York City, the U.S.'s epicenter, came from Europe. She said she believes it originated there because there was a focus on stopping travel from China.

U.S. (Vice) President Mike Pence [says], who heads the country's coronavirus task force, says there are at least four clinical trials studying the coronavirus treatment, hydroxychloroquine.

A plane carrying 90 tons of health, water and sanitation aid landed in Venezuela Wednesday to help the cash-strapped country fight the pandemic.

The U.N. sent the shipment and says it includes 28,000 Personal Protective Equipment kits for health workers, oxygen concentrators, pediatric beds, water quality control products and hygiene kits.

U.N. humanitarian coordinators said the donations are part of an initial phase of the response going to "children, women and vulnerable families."

From Washington, this is VOA news.

Brazil's health minister said Wednesday the country tried to buy 15,000 ventilators from China to fight the growing coronavirus epidemic but it has fallen through. The government now hopes Brazilian companies can step up and provide the devices.

Also Brazil's president says hydroxychloroquine is saving lives there. The country expects to receive raw materials from India so they can make the drug.

A group of Chinese medics arrived in Nigeria Wednesday to help fight the coronavirus outbreak despite angry criticism from health workers in the West African nation.

The 15-person team arrived for a month-long deployment with medical supplies and were greeted by senior officials. The move sparked backlash from Nigeria's biggest doctors' union.

At a time when America's health care system is being strained to the breaking point because of the coronavirus pandemic, many immigrant physicians say U.S. visas restrict them how much they can help.

States are summoning medical professionals in emergency services, but foreign doctors working in the U.S. on temporary visas are only allowed to work at specific hospital and in a specific job.

They can only transfer to another location or change jobs if they apply to transfer their visas. But the agency that adjudicates visa requests, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, is closed during the coronavirus outbreak.

The outbreak is triggered fear and panic buying in Australia, where two women have been charged for fighting over toilet paper in Sydney, an altercation that has gone vital. Store shelves are emptied by government pleas for calm.

Meanwhile, passengers from the Ruby Princess cruise ship have been given an all-clear after undergoing coronavirus testing.

Uruguay's foreign minister said Wednesday a virus-stricken Australian cruise liner is to dock in Montevideo Friday. All the passengers will be taken by bus to the city's international airport and flown home.

So far, 128 of the more than 200 people on board have tested positive for the virus.

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders suspended his campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination Wednesday. That clears the way for former Vice President Joe Biden to accept the nomination and take on President Donald Trump in the November general election.

The Riyadh-led military coalition fighting Yemen's Houthi rebels has declared a two-week cease-fire in the country starting noon Thursday Saudi Arabia time.

A senior Saudi official said the move is a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The unilateral cease-fire follows an escalation in fighting between the warring parties despite a call by the U.N. for an immediate cease-fire to protect children in the Arab world's poorest nation from the pandemic.

A year after a fire that shocked the world and destroyed the roof of Paris' ancient cathedral of Notre Dame, France is marking the first anniversary amid the coronavirus outbreak.

I'm Diane Roberts, VOA news.