全球抗疫英雄谱——奋战在国际抗击新冠肺炎（COVID-19）一线的医护人员
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美国疾病控制和预防中心前负责人汤姆·弗里登（Tom Frieden）：我们仍有希望将病毒传播控制住

汤姆·弗里登（Tom Frieden）是美国疾病控制和预防中心前负责人，结核病、烟草控制以及健康政策和行政管理方面的高级专家，曾接受过内科、传染病、公共卫生和流行病学高级培训。1996年至2002年，他曾指导印度结核病控制计划迅速改进诊断和治疗方式，并创建了世界上最大的，扩展最快的结核病控制计划，挽救了至少300万人的生命。

美国新冠肺炎疫情暴发6个月后，汤姆·弗里登参加了美国福克斯新闻的《美国新闻编辑室》节目，发表了关于新冠肺炎疫情的看法。他指出：“截至2020年中期，新冠肺炎持续占上风。现在，美国大部分地区的病毒传播仍在增加。除非我们及时遏制传播，否则病毒将继续蔓延。”

毫无疑问，新冠肺炎患者数量确实在增加，这并不是因为美国加大了新冠肺炎检测力度。美国大部分地区的阳性检测结果占比进一步增加，这表明有越来越多的人被感染。得克萨斯州、亚利桑那州和其他地区的医院挤满了重症患者。“对于正在亚利桑那州和得克萨斯州治疗新冠肺炎重症患者的医生来说，患者数量确实在增加。”弗里登说。

近期，这种增长在年轻人群体中最为明显，年轻人群体中检测结果呈阳性的人所占比例上升超过三分之一。这一年龄段的人更喜欢聚集在酒吧、俱乐部和其他人员聚集的地方，导致病毒传播在全国范围内不断增加。尽管年轻患者不太可能发展成新冠肺炎重症患者，但是美国出现了许多这样的病例，并且年轻患者也会将病毒传染给其他患者。

目前，新冠肺炎死亡患者数量并没有随着新增病例数量的增加而增加，主要是因为越来越多的年轻人被感染，并且病例数量增加后死亡人数不会立刻增加，在几周后才会出现增加，我们也正在改善治疗重症患者的能力。但是这种情况可能会在几周内发生改变。

弗里登表示，“现在，美国还无法成功控制病毒，大多数地区的疫情越来越严重，南部和东南部的疫情发展趋势尤其令人担忧。不断上升的新冠肺炎疫情可以迅速淹没任何社区，一些当前疫情并不严重的地区或许也无法幸免。美国至少有一百万人被感染，他们携带了这种病毒，并且有可能将病毒传播给其他人。虽然这种病毒不会神奇般地自动消失，但我们仍有希望将病毒传播控制住。有了明确的国家战略和组织良好的国家反应，我们就可以在更大范围内针对疫情开展预防活动和反击。”

他强调，每个人都应该遵循3W原则：周围有其他人（尤其是在室内）时要戴上口罩，经常洗手（或使用免洗洗手液），注意保持社交距离，与他人保持6英尺距离。应该通过战略性检测、有效的隔离和支持，向曾经暴露在病毒环境中的人们发出警告，同时为密切接触者提供支持性隔离，防止他们传播病毒，将病毒传播限制在一定范围内，以更广泛地开放社会活动。“我们一定可以控制住新冠肺炎传播，但是每个人都需要为此付出数月的努力。我们的健康状况、经济状况，以及孩子们能否重返学校，都取决于我们所有人是否能够团结起来，共同努力，抗击疫情。”

Dr. Tom Frieden: Coronavirus has the upper hand, but we can still stop the virus

Halfway through 2020, the coronavirus continues to have the upper hand. Spread is now increasing throughout most of the U.S., and we are going in the wrong direction — fast. It will continue to spread — and continue to get worse for weeks and possibly months — unless we stop it.

There is no doubt that we are seeing a real increase in COVID-19, not an increase because of more testing. The proportion of tests coming back positive has increased further in most of the United States, a key indicator that more people are getting infected. Hospitals in Texas, Arizona and elsewhere are filling up with patients with severe COVID-19 disease. You don’t have to tell the doctors treating increasing numbers of very sick patients in Arizona and Texas that the increase is real.

The recent increase is biggest among younger adults, with the test positivity rate in this group jumping by more than a third. It’s likely that congregating at bars, clubs and other crowded places, along with the number of essential workers in this age group, is driving the increase in transmission nationally.

Although younger people are much less likely to get severe illness from COVID-19, many do. And what starts in young adults won’t stay with them. They’ll spread it to others, many of whom are older or otherwise at increased risk.

Right now, COVID-19-related deaths are not increasing along with new cases, primarily because more younger people are getting infected because deaths increase only several weeks after cases increase and because we appear to be improving our ability to care for patients who are severely ill with COVID-19. But that is likely to change in the coming months. As the virus continues to spread, more people will get sick, more will be hospitalized and, tragically, more will die.

There are currently very few parts of the country where the virus is reasonably well controlled. It’s getting worse in most states and regions, and the trend is particularly alarming in the south and southeastern U.S. The health disparities from COVID-19 are striking — and unacceptable. Black, Hispanic/Latinx and Native American people in the U.S. are five times more likely to be hospitalized from COVID-19 than White people, and in data from New York City, Black and Hispanic/Latinx people twice as likely to die from COVID-19 than White people. This disproportionate burden of illness means we need a focused response so we can save as many lives as possible.

The rising tide of COVID-19 can quickly swamp any community, even places doing fairly well now. Today, at least a million people around the country are infected, contagious and able to spread disease. This is a vast viral reservoir that will take weeks or months to recede.

The virus won’t magically go away — but we don’t have to give up and live with it either. The virus will continue to spread until we stop it. With a clear national strategy and a well-organized national response, we can scale up basic prevention activities and fight back.

Each of us can follow the three W’s: wear a mask whenever you’re around other people, especially indoors, wash your hands frequently (or use hand sanitizer) and watch your distance to keep six feet away from others whenever possible.

With strategic testing, effective isolation, support to warn people who have been exposed and supportive quarantine of contacts so they won’t spread the infection, we can box the virus in so we can open our society more widely.

We can stop COVID-19, but it will take months of focused effort by everyone. Our health, our economy and our kids’ ability to go back to school all depend on all of us working together to get this right.

来源：Fox News, Drtomfrieden.net

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