VOA英语：新冠疫情反弹 以色列再度下令全国封锁
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Israel Orders Nationwide Lockdown
新冠疫情反弹 以色列再度下令全国封锁
By Caty Weaver
15 September 2020
Israel has ordered a nationwide lockdown to deal with an increase in coronavirus cases. The new rules are to take effect Friday at the start of the Jewish High Holiday season.
以色列已经下令全国封锁以应对新冠病例的攀升。这项新规定将于本周五犹太崇圣日假期伊始的这个时间生效。
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the move on Sunday.
以色列总理内塔尼亚胡周日宣布了这项举措。
Schools, restaurants, market areas and hotels will close as part of the lockdown. Israelis will also face restrictions on movement and gatherings.
作为封锁的一部分，学校、饭店、市场区域和酒店将关闭。以色列人还将面临出行和集会的限制。
"I know that these steps come at a difficult price for all of us," Netanyahu told the nation. "This is not the holiday we are used to."
内塔尼亚胡对全国发表讲话：“我知道这些措施会让我们所有人付出沉重代价。这不是我们熟悉的假期。”
The new lockdown will remain in place for at least three weeks.
这次新的封锁将持续至少3周时间。
Israel already had a lengthy lockdown in the spring. The move brought down infection numbers but also hurt the country's economy, with many people losing jobs.
以色列在春季进行了长时间的封锁。此举降低了感染人数，但也损害了该国的经济，许多人失业。
Israelis usually hold large family gatherings and fill religious centers during the important holy day of Yom Kippur later this month. Officials feared that could fuel a rise in infections.
以色列人通常在本月下旬的赎罪日这一重要的圣日举行大型家庭聚会和前往宗教中心。官员们担心这会加剧感染。
A consideration in Israeli discussions about the lockdown was what prayers would look like during the Jewish holidays. The details on prayer during the lockdown were not clear in the government decision. That led Israeli Housing Minister Yaakov Litzman, who represents the Orthodox Jews, to resign from the government.
以色列在讨论封锁时要考虑的一个问题是犹太节日期间的祈祷方式。关于封锁期间祈祷的细节在政府的决议中不够明确。这导致代表正统犹太人的以色列住房部长雅科夫·利茨曼从政府辞职。
Israel has had more than 150,000 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus and more than 1,100 deaths. With a population of 9 million, the country now has one of the world's worst outbreaks of the virus. More than 4,000 new cases are reported every day.
以色列已经有超过15万例新冠病毒病例，以及超过1100人死亡。该国有9百万人口，是目前全球新冠病毒爆发最严重的地区之一。该国每天报告超过4千例新增病例。
Israel earned praise for its early efforts in stopping the coronavirus. The country moved quickly to close its borders and appeared to bring infections under control. It has since been criticized for opening businesses and schools too quickly, permitting the virus to spread.
以色列早期在阻止新冠病毒方面的努力受到了赞扬。该国迅速采取行动关闭了边境，似乎使感染得到了控制。此后该国因为过早开放商业和学校导致病毒传播而受到批评。
Much of the criticism has been aimed at Netanyahu. Thousands of protesters gather outside his Jerusalem home every week. The prime minister has appeared preoccupied by politics and personal issues, including his trial on corruption charges.
大多数批评都针对内塔尼亚胡。每周有数万名示威者聚集在他位于耶路撒冷的住房外。这位总理似乎深陷于政治和个人问题当中，其中包括指控他腐败的审判。
Netanyahu has also been criticized for seeming to surrender to pressure from interest groups, including most recently his Orthodox governing partners. They seemed to have persuaded him to ease a city-based lockdown plan that would have mostly affected ultra-Orthodox and Arab communities.
内塔尼亚胡还因为似乎屈服于利益集团的压力而受到批评，其中多数压力来自于他的正统派执政伙伴。他们似乎说服了他放松了一项基于城市的封锁计划，该计划主要影响极端正统派和阿拉伯社区。
On Sunday, Netanyahu defended his earlier actions. He said Israel's economy had come out of the first lockdown in a better state than many other developed nations. And he said the country had had fewer coronavirus deaths than other countries with similar outbreaks.
周日，内塔尼亚胡为他之前的行动辩护。他说，以色列经济走出了首次封锁的影响，经济状况比许多发达国家都要好。他还表示，该国新冠病毒导致的死亡人数要比爆发情况类似的其它国家更少。
The government, led by two opposing parties who joined forces reportedly to fight the virus, also has been denounced for the new outbreak. Critics say it has failed to deal with both the health and economic crises, leading Israel to its second lockdown.
据报道，由两个对立党派领导的政府联合起来抗击病毒，该政府也因为疫情全新爆发而受到了谴责。批评者表示，政府在应对这次健康危机和经济危机上都未能取得成功，导致以色列面临第二次封锁。
But some government ministers are blaming the public for the spread. They accuse Israelis of violating rules on public gatherings and wearing face masks.
但是一些政府部长指责公众传播疫情。他们指责以色列人违反关于公共聚会和佩戴口罩的规定。
I'm Caty Weaver.
我是凯蒂·韦孚。
Words in This Story
lockdown – n. a temporary condition ordered by a government (as during the outbreak of an epidemic disease) in which people are required to stay in their homes and refrain from or limit activities outside the home involving public contact
prayers – n. a religious service in which words are spoken to a god, or gods, especially in order to give thanks or to ask for something
mask – n. a covering used over the mouth and nose to protect against disease spread
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