美CDC：病毒的戶外傳播率較低？專家打臉

00:05

The CDC last month announced that "less than 10%" of COVID transmission was occurring outdoors. David Leonhardt digs into the research and concludes that the agency is pushing a "misleading" stat. 

00:17

Based on the epidemiologists he's interviewed and the studies he's examined, the true estimate of outdoor transmission is below 1%, and possibly below 0.1%. 

00:28

”Saying that less than 10% of Covid transmission occurs outdoors is akin to saying that sharks attack fewer than 20,000 swimmers a year," he writes, noting the actual worldwide number is about 150 swimmers. ”It’s both true and deceiving." 

00:43

Well, you might say, what's wrong with the CDC erring on the side of the caution? The problem is that this type of misinformation is "leaving many people confused about what’s truly risky," writes Leonhardt.

00:54

Nowhere in the world is there a single documented infection from "casual" outdoor interaction, "such as walking past someone on a street or eating at a nearby table," Leonhardt adds. 

01:05

Part of the problem appears to stem from studies with imprecise definitions of what constitutes "outdoors." 

01:11

For example, instances from Singapore construction sites are weirdly over-represented in early research on outdoor transmissions, even though these sites appear more likely to be indoor locales. 

01:22

It's all needlessly muddling what should be a clear message, writes Leonhardt: "Masks make a huge difference indoors and rarely matter outdoors."  

Vocabulary

Misleading (adj) - giving the wrong idea

Conclude (v) - to arrive at a judgement

Deceive (v) - to make someone believe something that isn’t true

Imprecise (adj) - vague, lacking exact details

Muddle (v) - make something confusing

Constitute (v) - be a part of a whole

To be akin to (v phr.) - similar, related, compatible

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 2021年6月號
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