Japan facing catastrophe in virus fight
日本面临抗击病毒灾难
Hospitals in Japan are increasingly turning away sick people as the country struggles with surging coronavirus infections and its emergency medical system collapses.
随着日本冠状病毒感染病例激增，紧急医疗系统崩溃，日本越来越多的医院拒绝病人就医。
In one recent case, an ambulance carrying a man with a fever and difficulty breathing was rejected by 80 hospitals and forced to search for hours for a hospital in downtown Tokyo that would treat him.
在最近的一个案例中，一辆救护车载着一名发烧、呼吸困难的男子，但却遭到了80家医院的拒绝，他们不得不花几个小时在东京市中心寻找一家可以治疗他的医院。
Another feverish man finally reached a hospital after paramedics unsuccessfully contacted 40 clinics.
在医护人员联系了40家诊所后，另一名发烧的男子最终被送往医院。
The Japanese Association for Acute Medicine and the Japanese Society for Emergency Medicine say many hospital emergency rooms are refusing to treat people including those suffering strokes, heart attacks and external injuries.
日本急症医学协会和日本急救医学协会表示，许多医院的急诊室拒绝治疗包括中风、心脏病和外伤在内的病人。
Tokyo’s reported number of cases leapt dramatically after the Olympic Games were postponed (Eugene Hoshiko/AP)
奥运会推迟后，东京报告的病例数量急剧上升。
Japan initially seemed to have controlled the outbreak by going after clusters of infections in specific places, usually enclosed spaces such as clubs, gyms and meeting venues.
日本最初似乎是通过在特定场所(通常是封闭的场所，如俱乐部、健身房和会议场所)追踪感染人群来控制疫情的。
But the spread of virus outpaced this approach and most new cases are untraceable.
但病毒的传播速度超过了这种方法，而且大多数新病例无法追踪。
The outbreak has highlighted underlying weaknesses in medical care in Japan, which has long been praised for its high quality insurance system and reasonable costs.
此次疫情凸显了日本医疗保健的潜在弱点。长期以来，日本一直因其高质量的保险体系和合理的成本而受到赞誉。
Apart from a general unwillingness to embrace social distancing, experts blame government incompetence and a widespread shortage of the protective gear and equipment medical workers need to perform their jobs.
除了人们普遍不愿接受与社会保持距离之外，专家们还指责政府的无能，以及医务工作者工作所需的防护装备和设备普遍短缺。
Japan lacks enough hospital beds, medical workers or equipment. Forcing anyone with the virus into hospital, even those with mild symptoms, has left hospitals overcrowded and understaffed.
日本缺乏足够的医院床位、医护人员和医疗设备。强迫任何携带病毒的人入院，即使是那些症状轻微的人，也会导致医院人满为患，人手不足。
The “collapse of emergency medicine” has already happened, a precursor to the overall collapse of medicine, the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine and the Japanese Society for Emergency Medicine said in a joint statement.
日本急症医学协会(japan Association for Acute medicine)和日本急症医学协会(japan Society for emergency medicine)在一份联合声明中表示，“急症医学的崩溃”已经发生，这是整个医学崩溃的前兆。
By turning away patients, hospitals are putting an excessive burden on the limited number of advanced and critical emergency centres, the groups said.
这些团体表示，医院拒绝病人，给数量有限的先进和关键的急救中心带来了过重的负担。
“We can no longer carry out normal emergency medicine,” said Takeshi Shimazu, an Osaka University emergency doctor.
大阪大学的急救医生Takeshi Shimazu说:“我们不能再开展正常的急救医学了。”
There are no enough protective gowns, masks and face shields, raising risks of infection for medical workers and making treatment of COVID-19 patients increasingly difficult, said Yoshitake Yokokura, who heads the Japan Medical Association.
日本医学会(Japan medical Association)会长Yoshitake Yokokura说，没有足够的防护服、面罩和面罩，增加了医护人员感染的风险，使19名covid19患者的治疗越来越困难。
In March, there were 931 cases of ambulances being rejected by more than five hospitals or driving around for 20 minutes or longer to reach an emergency room, up from 700 in March last year.
今年3月，有931例救护车被五家以上的医院拒之门外，或者需要开上20分钟甚至更长时间才能到达急诊室，而去年3月只有700例。
In the first 11 days of April, that rose to 830, the Tokyo Fire Department said.
东京消防部门称，4月的前11天，这一数字升至830。
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has come under pressure as his country grapples with the outbreak
日本首相安倍晋三面临压力，他的国家正在努力应对疫情。
Infections in a number of hospitals have forced medical workers to self-isolate at home, worsening staff shortages.
许多医院的感染迫使医务工作者在家中进行自我隔离，这加剧了医护人员的短缺。
Tokyo’s new cases started to spike in late March, the day after the Tokyo Olympics was postponed for a year. They have been rising at an accelerating pace for a current total of 2,595.
东京的新病例从3月底开始激增，也就是东京奥运会推迟一年的第二天。它们一直在加速增长，目前总数为2595个。
With some 10,000 cases and 170 deaths, Japan’s situation is not as dire as many other countries, but there are fears its outbreak could become much worse.
日本约有1万例病例，170人死亡，日本的情况并不像许多其他国家那么可怕，但人们担心，它的疫情可能会变得更糟。
A government virus task force has warned that, in a worst-case scenario where no preventive measures were taken, more than 400,000 could die due to shortages of ventilators and other intensive care equipment.
一个政府病毒工作小组警告说，在最坏的情况下，如果不采取预防措施，超过40万人可能会因为呼吸机和其他重症监护设备的短缺而死亡。
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said the government has secured 15,000 ventilators and is getting support of Sony and Toyota Motor Corp. to produce more.
日本首相安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)曾表示，政府已经获得了1.5万台风机，并得到了索尼(Sony)和丰田汽车(Toyota Motor Corp.)的支持，将生产更多的风机。
Japanese hospitals also lack ICUs, with only five per 100,000 people, compared to about 30 in Germany, 35 in the U.S. and 12 in Italy, said Osamu Nishida, head of the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine.
日本重症监护医学会(Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine)会长西田修(Osamu Nishida)说，日本医院也缺乏icu，每10万人中只有5人，相比之下，德国约有30人，美国约有35人，意大利约有12人。
Italy’s 10% mortality rate, compared to Germany’s 1%, is partly due to the shortage of ICU facilities, Nishida said.
Nishida说，意大利10%的死亡率与德国1%的死亡率相比，部分原因在于重症监护病房设施的短缺。
“Japan, with ICUs not even half of Italy’s, is expected to face a fatality overshoot very quickly,” he said.
他表示:“ICUs甚至不及意大利一半的日本，预计将很快面临致命的超调。”
