As cases increase, the Bay Area is California's COVID hotspot

As cases increase, the Bay Area is California's COVID hotspot

Transcript¹

The San Francisco Bay Area is in its fifth surge of the pandemic, surpassing last summer's Delta² variant³ peak. But public health officials says this wave is different.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Right now, the Bay Area is California's COVID hot spot. Cases have more than doubled in the last two weeks. It's the fifth wave to hit the region, but doctors say this one is different. Lesley McClurg from member station KQED explains why.

LESLEY MCCLURG, BYLINE⁴: When cases started to rise again, Lisa Petras was rattled⁵. She keeps a close eye on COVID data.

LISA PETRAS: We were really concerned because the vibe of everything's over and let's take off our masks and go party, that actually made me feel a lot less safe than I felt over the past couple of years.

MCCLURG: Then her own social calendar started to dwindle⁶.

PETRAS: We had had several friends come down with COVID over the past couple weeks or so.

MCCLURG: Including many clients in her psychotherapy practice in Oakland. Petras wanted to lay low, but there was one event she couldn't cancel - the menu tasting for her upcoming wedding.

PETRAS: It was literally⁷ the first time in 25 months since the pandemic began that we ate indoors. And we didn't feel comfortable with it at all.

MCCLURG: A few days later, her throat was scratchy. By that evening, she was coughing and then up all night fighting chills and shaking.

PETRAS: And it reminded me of the exact symptoms that I had when I got the vaccine⁸. And I was like, uh-oh.

MCCLURG: She tested positive.

MARIA RAVEN⁹: I just think it's everywhere. I got it a couple weeks ago.

MCCLURG: Dr. Maria Raven is the chief of emergency medicine at UCSF.

RAVEN: I didn't think it was possible because I think I've been exposed so many times, but I finally got it. At some point, I think it's going to hit almost everybody.

MCCLURG: Two of Raven's colleagues at her hospital just tested positive. In Marin County, this surge is higher than last summer's delta peak. It's likely driven by a loosening of restrictions¹⁰ hitting just as a highly transmissible subvariant is spreading. Though Raven says it's not driving a significant uptick in hospitalizations.

RAVEN: Not the numbers that we were seeing a couple months back.

MCCLURG: She's referring to the omicron tidal wave that crushed the country over the holidays. Now its subvariant, called BA.2, is taking hold. And even though it's more contagious¹¹ than omicron, it does not appear to cause more serious disease.

RAVEN: You can go about your normal life. You have done the right things. You have gotten vaccinated¹³. So go out. Go out to dinner. Just move on.

JORGE SALINAS: People can continue going to work, taking public transportation, even socialize.

MCCLURG: Jorge Salinas is a hospital epidemiologist for Stanford Health Care. He stresses that this wave hasn't peaked yet.

SALINAS: And we just, as always, need to be slightly careful - wearing a mask in crowded indoor spaces.

MCCLURG: For example, the BART public transportation system in the area is again requiring masks on all trains. Salinas says the region has a layer of protective immunity¹⁴ from high vaccination¹⁵ rates combined with the fact that so many people have caught the virus by now. Plus, if someone does get really sick, there are several treatments available.

SALINAS: So that changes things, makes this a slightly less concerning virus than it was two years ago.

MCCLURG: Yet just because we have to learn to live with COVID doesn't mean it's going to be easy. Even a mild bout¹² when you're boosted can be rough. The virus hit Lisa Petras worse than she expected.

PETRAS: I mean, it sucks just as much as getting, like, the worst flu you've ever had sucks. I can't imagine what this would be like if I wasn't vaxxed.

MCCLURG: She feels badly that she just passed COVID to her fiancee. Petras says the only potential silver lining¹⁶ to laying in bed is the fact that they will both have extra immunity for their summer wedding.

For NPR News, I'm Lesley McClurg in Oakland.

(SOUNDBITE OF TYCHO'S "DIVISION")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

3 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

6 dwindle   

v.逐渐变小（或减少）

参考例句：

• The factory's workforce has dwindled from over 4,000 to a few hundred.工厂雇员总数已经从4,000多人减少到几百人。
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority.他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

8 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

9 raven   

n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的

参考例句：

• We know the raven will never leave the man's room.我们知道了乌鸦再也不会离开那个男人的房间。
• Her charming face was framed with raven hair.她迷人的脸上垂落着乌亮的黑发。

10 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

11 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

12 bout   

n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛

参考例句：

• I was suffering with a bout of nerves.我感到一阵紧张。
• That bout of pneumonia enfeebled her.那次肺炎的发作使她虚弱了。

13 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

14 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

15 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

16 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。