美國CDC：「口罩夠用就OK，請先留給前線人員」

Surgeon General on COVID-19：" Stop Buying Masks！"

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Face masks aren't going to save us from contracting the coronavirus while commuting or grocery shopping, health officials say, but they do help health professionals working with infected patients in a closed environment.

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Yet uninfected people around the world are hoarding them, so the US surgeon general tackled the shortage Saturday with a bluntly worded message to Americans：" Seriously people — STOP BUYING MASKS！" Jerome Adams tweeted.

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They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching Coronavirus, but if health care providers can't get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk！

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The online rush on masks has led to price gouging and a proliferation of counterfeits. The masks are best at keeping the wearer from spreading the virus, a World Health Organization official says. “ There are limits to how a mask can protect you from being infected.

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The N95 masks, which are thicker and block smaller particles than others, are most in demand. The CDC says that the health workers should wear, but even those masks aren't effective at protecting uninfected people.

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" The viral particles are too small to be filtered out. " an expert said. In addition, surgical masks are needed because they “ protect you as a patient in the operating room from bacterial contamination. ” an expert said before adding a similar plea: " Stop buying and hoarding them！"

Vocabulary

Contract (v)

- to become affected with/to have (disease)

Commute (n/v)

- travel from home to work regularly

Infect (v)

- to give or receive a virus or disease

Blunt (adj)

- being very direct, straightforward

Price gouging (n)

- when a seller increases the price of a product when demand goes up

Counterfeit (n)

- a copy of an original, imitation of something

Hoard (v)

- to store or keep a lot of valuable objects

Plea (n)

- a request given with a lot of emotion or showing urgency

導讀人：Riley Bilgo

擅於教授語言學相關知識，教學強項包括簡報、面試準備、聽力和寫作。

本文收錄於英語島English Island 2020年4月號
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