美国总统特朗普26日在白宫宣布，副总统彭斯将领导美国政府开展应对新冠肺炎疫情的相关工作。
而彭斯新官上任的“首把火”，竟是要求所有新冠肺炎疫情的发布信息 “口径一致”。
彭斯要求以后美国政府官员和卫生部门的专家对疫情的公开声明，都必须经过副总统办公室的协调。
此前，美国专家学者和政府官员曾就疫情判断表态不一。
美国疾控中心专家警告疫情可能会在美国爆发，但白宫官员则认为疫情已经得到控制。
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence moved Thursday to control the flow of information from federal agencies about the virus response, ordering that public communications be cleared by their offices.
According to the Associated Press, a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the internal guidance said the decision was made to ensure the whole-of-government response was on message.
The new communications approach follows President Donald Trump's decision on Wednesday to make Pence the government's point-person for the epidemic.
《纽约时报》关于彭斯“控制”卫生部门专家的言论的报道。
据《纽约时报》报道，美国国家过敏和传染病研究所主任安东尼•法奇（Anthony Fauci）已受到白宫指令，未来任何有关疫情的对外声明都需要得到白宫许可。《纽约时报》认为，彭斯是在对卫生部门专家的言论进行“控制”。
The New York Times, which first reported Pence's messaging demands, also said one of the country's leading experts on viruses and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, Dr. Anthony Fauci, was instructed by the White House not to say anything else about the virus without clearance.
During his meeting with Pence on Thursday, Fauci noted "this virus has adapted extremely well to human species" and warned of the higher mortality rate of the virus than influenza.
一位名叫Judd Legum的记者也在推特上披露，法奇本周日原定有5场和疫情相关的节目，在彭斯要求所有疫情发布信息 “口径一致”后，这些节目都已取消。
任命彭斯遭专家反对：“不能让政治妨碍公共卫生”
而在特朗普任命彭斯全权负责疫情工作后，他的这一决定也遭到了一些专家学者的反对。
美国医疗保障委员会（Committee to Protect Medicare）执行主任罗伯•戴维森博士（Rob Davidson）直接在推特中发起请愿活动，指出彭斯曾经否认科学，也无应对重大突发事件的经验，让他负责疫情防控工作不合适。
Trump's decision to make Pence the lead on novel coronavirus response was received with strong disagreement by some scientists and public health experts.
Rob Davidson, the executive director of the Committee to Protect Medicare, launched a petition on Twitter calling for the removal of Pence as point-person for the epidemic.
“当下是很重要的时刻，不能让政治妨碍公共卫生。”
在请愿书中，戴维森博士提到了彭斯2015年在担任印第安纳州州长时，对该州的艾滋病疫情防控存在严重失职。
他指出2015年，因滥用注射药物和共用受感染针头致使艾滋病在印第安纳州蔓延。当时，当地卫生部门的官员要求进行临时针头交换计划，但彭斯将这项计划推迟了几个月，导致了疫情的爆发。
He pointed out that when Pence was Governor of the State of Indiana, he was responsible for the exacerbation of an outbreak of 200 HIV cases in 2015. Davidson said local health officials requested a temporary needle exchange program as the cases were related to drug abuse and the sharing of needles, but Pence delayed the program for months, resulting in the outbreak.
"With such a dubious record in the area of public health, a lack of understanding of basic science, and zero experience in disaster management, it is clear that Vice President Pence is uniquely unqualified for this important position," Davidson wrote in the petition.
耶鲁大学流行病学副教授格雷格•贡萨尔维斯（Gregg Gonsalves）也发推文表示不满，他认为这一任命决定仍囿于美国的党派之争。
“特朗普让一个完全不能胜任的人来担此要务。这一决定将大家都置于险境。这不单单是共和党或民主党的事。美国面临着疫情爆发的危险，此刻更应该抛弃党派纷争。”
Gregg Gonsalves, assistant professor of epidemiology at Yale University also tweeted against Trump's decision, saying "This isn't a Republican or Democratic issue. We have the potential for coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. and we needed to rise above the partisan fray."
彭斯、特朗普强调 “威胁很低”，但……
彭斯27日发表讲话时表示，联邦政府已经准备好全力应对疫情，目前疫情对公众的威胁仍然很低。
Pence stressed on Thursday that the threat from coronavirus to the American public remains low.
"Our best estimate is that the threat to the American public... remains low," Pence said. "In the days ahead we're going to make sure that the full resources of the federal government continue to be brought to bear in confronting the coronavirus here at home."
彭斯28日发推文再次表示疫情对美国威胁很低。
此前，特朗普也曾表示美国已经做好应对措施，新冠病毒蔓延的风险“非常低”。
Previously, Trump also said because of the precautions taken by the U.S., the coronavirus risk to the public "remains very low."
尽管特朗普和彭斯一致认为“威胁很低”，但对疫情的担忧还是影响了很多美国民众。
一些地方已经启动了疫情防控的相关准备工作。2月25日，加利福尼亚州的旧金山市宣布进入紧急状态。此后，加利福尼亚州的圣地亚哥郡、圣克拉拉郡、橙郡也纷纷拉响了警报，宣布进入紧急状态。
与此同时，美国多地民众也开始大量购买口罩，贮备生活用品和消毒用具。
However, concern and worry over the novel coronavirus have been increasing among the American people.
San Francisco, the northern city of California, on Tuesday declared a local emergency over novel coronavirus, followed by San Diego County, Santa Barbara County, and Orange County.
Stores in the U.S. started running low on masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer amid growing fears of the virus. Some people also began stocking up on food and medical supplies.
而在亚马逊网站上，各种医用型、防护型口罩大面积脱销，价格也比平时高了三、四倍。
以平台上某第三方商家销售的N95口罩为例，10个3M 8511 N95口罩标出了229.99美元（约合人民币1608元）的高价，平均一个口罩23美元（约人民币合160元）。
亚马逊已警告销售平台上的第三方销售商，在疫情期间不能哄抬口罩价格。
On the e-commerce platform Amazon, prices for some medical or protective masks have tripled and, in some cases, even quadrupled. Though getting price gouged, masks on the platform are still in short supply. Amazon said it has warned third-party sellers on its marketplace platform not to gouge customers on protective face masks.
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