1.媒体来源: The Guardian
2.记者署名: Helen Davidson and Chi Hui Lin
3.完整新闻标题:
Once a zero-Covid poster child, Taiwan learns to live with the virus
曾为清零模范生的台湾正学习与病毒共存
4.完整新闻内文:
By rejecting super-strict lockdowns, the island is pioneering a new and ‘
very successful’ approach at odds with China and Hong Kong
拒绝严格封城的台湾正试图创造“崭新且成功”的新模式。
Taiwanese people don’t mind queueing. They’ll do it for a well-reviewed
restaurant, promotional giveaways, or to take an Instagram photo at a popular
tourist site. But at 3pm outside a Gongguan pharmacy in Taipei, there’s
grumbling in the line. It’s an inconvenient time to leave work, but for now
it’s the only way to get your hands on a rapid Covid-19 test.
台湾人不介意排队，为了好评餐厅、免费赠品、知名景点拍照打卡都愿意。但下午三点公馆某药局外排队人龙里却传出抱怨声。因为这不是方便离开工作岗位的时间，却是买到快筛的唯一方式。
Twenty minutes after the sales window opens, a woman walks out to the waiting
customers: they’ve sold out. People are frustrated, having waited for up to
two hours, and some leave to try again tomorrow. Two elderly people lean over
a phone, looking at a map for other pharmacies nearby.
The pharmacist tells the Guardian that the store is only given 78 tests each
day, and always sell out in less than half an hour. She laughs when asked if
they can request more.
The disappointed customers rush to another pharmacy, where an employee with a
megaphone says there are only tests left for the next four people. When one
of those four says they aren’t there to buy a test, the woman in fifth place
jumps and shrieks with joy.
药局每天只分配到78组，排队2小时买到的人喜形于色，买不到的沮丧不已。
An hour earlier, the central epidemic command centre (CECC) had reported more
than 30,000 cases for the previous 24 hours – the first time Taiwan has seen
such numbers in this pandemic.
在此1小时前，指挥中心通报单日有3万名以上的确诊数，这是台湾过去疫情首见的新高。
Once a poster child for the success of zero-Covid, Taiwan is now dealing with
an “Omicron tsunami”. In response – and in stark contrast to regional
neighbours – health authorities have decided zero-Covid is no match for the
new variant and have flipped the switch to “living with the virus”.
曾为清零模范生的台湾当局，面对omicron海啸，决定改采与邻国不同的共存策略。
“It is the right decision, and it’s also the decision we had to make,”
says Dr Chen Chien-jen, Taiwan’s former vice-president and professor of
epidemiology.
身为流行病学专家及台湾前任副总统的陈建仁说:“这是台湾正确也必然的决定”。
Taiwan closed itself off in early 2020, and employed a regime of stringent
contact tracing, social restrictions and personal hygiene measures which it
kept even as vaccines and antivirals were developed. It defeated an outbreak
of the Alpha strain and another of Delta in 2021. But after the highly
virulent Omicron began affecting countries in November and December, Chen
says he and other scholars advised the government to start shifting towards
living with the virus.
“The CECC decided we should adopt the policy some time later when booster
shots reached around 40-45% [several months away], but Omicron never waits
for anyone,” he tells the Guardian. Instead, it began spreading through the
community in March.
The ‘new Taiwanese model’
“新台湾模式”
Hong Kong, Taiwan and China were until now the last three major economies
still clinging to zero-Covid. In Hong Kong the policy failed and the virus
overwhelmed the city with disastrous results. In China, a steadfast
commitment to it has produced arduous and economically damaging lockdowns,
especially in Shanghai, with no end in sight. Taiwan appears to have seen
both options, and decided on a third.
It’s called the “new Taiwanese model”: an acknowledgment that they can’t
stop the spread of Omicron, but that they can try – to use an early
pandemic-era phrase – to flatten the curve.
“新台湾模式”认知到既然无法阻断omicron，但可以试着平缓疫情曲线。
Cases are still rising and experts predict a peak is three weeks away, with
as many as 3.5 million of Taiwan’s 24.5 million people expected to
eventually be infected, and up to 16,000 dead. As daily tallies ticked past
30,000 this week, the CECC continued to ease restrictions, drop mandatory QR
code check-ins, and reduce quarantine times. It urged people to maintain
mask-wearing, work from home if they could, reduce gatherings, get vaccinated
and take a rapid test if they felt symptoms. It’s also trusting people to
self-report, and isolate or quarantine at home.
确诊数攀升下，专家预测3周后会到达高峰。预估将有350万人染疫及1.6万人死亡。虽本周数字持续升高，但指挥中心继续松绑各项管制。
So is it working? In many ways, yes. Chen notes the fatality rate of the
outbreak is still extremely low, below 0.2%. This year 66 people have died
with Covid-19, bringing Taiwan’s total to 919 out of more than 345,000
cases. More than 99.75% of Omicron cases are mild or asymptomatic, and
residents and businesses are still going about their days without lockdowns
or panic. Visitor groups are being gradually allowed to return.
陈建仁表示目前在许多层面看来，包含死亡率低、轻症无症占99.75%、工作生活正常运作等，新台湾模式是有效的。
Hospitals are not at capacity, thanks to Taiwan pre-emptively ending a policy
of mandatory hospitalisation for all cases. The same policy in Hong Kong had
filled its hospitals before the wave began, but in Taiwan just 44% of
hospital ICU beds (more than 62% in Taipei) were full as of Friday.
不强制确诊者住院治疗的政策保留了台湾的医疗量能。
Prof Yen Muh-yong, the director of the infectious disease department at Cheng
Hsin hospital, says Taiwan’s diversion of cases away from hospitals has been
“very successful in relieving pressure” so far. But he fears it still won’
t be enough for this wave and urges more integration of local and district
services, to create surge capacity in the workforce and reduce hospital
crowds.
振兴医院感染科颜慕庸教授表示:尽管目前确诊分流的成功为医疗纾解压力，但面对这波疫情仍有不足。建议整合区域服务来增加量能。
As cases rise there are also criticisms, including that the government is
more reactive than proactive. Yen says transitioning to coexistence was the
right decision, “but the brain is giving directions the hands and feet are
not coping with”.
在此同时，确诊数暴增也引发对政府见招拆招、不够主动的批评。颜教授说共存正确，但“大脑下了手脚无法应对的指令”。
The government did not plan in advance for the procedures and the
preparedness to live with the Omicron tsunami.”
“政府并未做到与omicron海啸共存的超前部署”
‘Everyone is nervous’
“人人自危”
Rules and regulations change almost daily and incrementally. The death of a
two-year-old boy last month highlighted communication failures exacerbated by
Taiwan’s entrenched bureaucracy. The child’s parents had wanted to send
their son to hospital but got conflicting instructions from multiple health
services. By the time they got him to hospital it was too late.
法令与规定朝令夕改。2岁童之死突显出台湾根深柢固的官僚体系导致讯息连系失效更加严重。
In factories, migrant workers have once again been discriminated against with
unequal rule enforcement and eased restrictions, and poor vaccination rates
among the very old and very young remain too low. Many elderly people have
refused to get vaccinated against Covid-19, and the government only recently
allowed vaccination for under-12s, despite lobbying from anxious parents.
工厂外籍移工在隔离规定上被歧视；老人幼童疫苗接种率偏低