冠状病毒的常见问题解答

冠状病毒的常见问题解答

The new coronavirus continues its spread in nearly every nation, bringing illness or death to many thousands of people. In the United States, the number of cases is growing rapidly. Here we ask experts questions from readers and listeners about COVID-19. and how to prevent the spread of the virus.

新型冠状病毒继续在几乎每个国家传播，给成千上万的人带来疾病或死亡。在美国，病例数量正在迅速增长。在这里，我们向专家询问读者和听众关于COVID-19以及如何防止病毒传播的问题。

I know the virus can live on hard surfaces. What about clothing?

我知道病毒可以在坚硬的表面生存。会在衣服上存活吗?

It probably can — but you shouldn't be overly worried. Here's why.

或许可以，但你不必过于担心。这里有原因。

So far, there aren't scientific findings on how long the virus can live on fabric. But fabrics are generally porous — as is cardboard, which has been tested. And a recent study did find that the virus can live on cardboard for up to 24 hours.

到目前为止，还没有关于这种病毒能在面料上存活多久的科学发现。但面料通常是多孔的，纸板也是如此，它已经经过了测试。最近的一项研究发现，这种病毒可以在硬纸板上存活24小时。

"The thing that you have to consider, though, is that those tests are done in ideal testing circumstances," says Rachel Graham, a virologist at the University of North Carolina. "That's like in some kind of hermetically-sealed box where there's no fluctuation in humidity, there's no wind, there's nothing that can contribute toward desiccating the virus. And so desiccation — or drying out the virus — would actually reduce the amount of time it's actually viable on any kind of surface."

“不过，你必须考虑的是，这些测试是在理想的测试环境下进行的，”北卡罗来纳大学病毒学家雷切尔·格雷厄姆。“说就像在一个密封的盒子里，那里没有湿度波动，没有风，没有任何东西可以帮助病毒干燥。因此，干燥，或者将病毒干燥，实际上会减少病毒在任何表面上存活的时间。”

Plus, porousness is a good thing when it comes to virus. A surface that is permeable, like a fabric, tends to trap viruses more easily than hard surfaces.

另外，对于病毒来说，多孔性是一件好事。像面料一样可渗透的表面比坚硬的表面更容易捕获病毒。

"It's less at risk of transmitting because the virus gets kind of stuck to the [porous] surface, and so it can't be easily transferred back off of it," Graham says. "Porous surfaces also suck the fluid out of it. The viral membrane is a lipid membrane and so if that becomes dried out, it's basically done, infectivity-wise."

“它传播的风险更小，因为病毒会粘在多孔的表面，所以它不容易从多孔表面转移回来，” 格雷厄姆说。多孔的表面也会将(病毒的)液体吸出。病毒膜是一种脂质膜，所以如果它变干了，基本上就完成了感染的过程。”

If you are concerned that clothing or other fabric items might have picked up the virus, throw the clothing in the washer and dryer. For most situations, says Graham, your detergent will do its job and get rid of any infective particles – or at least sanitize them to the point where they're not a risk to you.

如果你担心衣服或其他面料可能感染了病毒，把衣服扔进洗衣机和烘干机。格雷厄姆说，在大多数情况下，你的清洁剂会起作用，清除掉任何有传染性的颗粒，或者至少把它们消毒到对你没有危险的程度。

I like to use wipes to disinfect surfaces in my home — especially surfaces that are frequently touched. But how much surface area can one wipe be used on before it loses its ability to kill the coronavirus?

我喜欢用湿巾给家里的表面消毒，特别是那些经常接触的表面。但是，在一次擦拭失去杀死冠状病毒的能力之前，它可以使用多少表面积?

The first step is to check thelabel on the wipes you're using. For instance, the label on a container of Clorox wipes instructs: "Use enough wipes for treated surface to remain visibly wet for 4 minutes. To kill viruses, let stand 15 seconds."

第一步是检查你使用的湿巾上的标签。例如，高乐氏湿巾容器上的标签指示:“使用足够的湿巾，使表面保持湿润4分钟。”为了杀死病毒，静置15秒。”

That time and that visiblewetness is important, says Erica Hartman, an expert in environmental microbiology at the Northwestern University McCormick School of Engineering.

美国西北大学麦考密克工程学院环境微生物学专家埃丽卡•哈特曼表示，这段时间以及可见的湿度非常重要。

Regardless of the particular ingredients in the wipes you're using, "they're all chemicals that have to react," she says. "And those chemical reactions aren't instantaneous — they take a certain amount of time. So what you're doing when you're keeping the surface wet is you're basically allowing time, allowing the chemical reactions to take place."

不管你使用的湿巾中有什么特殊成分，“它们都是必须反应的化学物质，”她说这些化学反应不是瞬间的，它们需要一定的时间。所以，当你保持表面湿润时，你所做的就是基本上留出时间，让化学反应发生。”

Strangers keep petting my dog when we go for a walk. Could my dog transmit the virus on its fur?

我们出去散步时，陌生人不断地抚摸我的狗。我的狗能通过它的皮毛传播病毒吗?

Saskia Popescu, an infection prevention epidemiologist at the health-care system Honor Health, says she's not especially concerned about dog fur transmitting the virus. "I think that I would probably be more worried if somebody was coughing all over the place and went to touch my dog's harness or something — something inanimate," she says. "I would put it in the lower risk category."

萨斯基亚·波普斯库是卫生保健系统荣誉健康的传染病预防流行病学家，她说她并不特别担心狗毛传播病毒。她说:“我想，我可能会更担心，有人到处咳嗽，摸我狗的护具或其他一些没有生命的东西，。”“我会把它归为风险较低的一类。”

That's because like fabric, fur is a porous surface — so it isn't easy for a person to pick up bits of virus from it. "The chances of you getting it from fur and hair is going to be less than getting it from a solid surface," says virologist RachelGraham.

这是因为像面料一样，毛皮的表面是多孔的，所以人们不容易从毛皮上感染病毒。病毒学家雷切尔·格雷厄姆说:“你从毛皮和毛发中得到它的机会将比从固体表面得到它的机会要小。”

Can people get COVID-19 more than once?

人们会多次感染COVID-19吗?

The short answer: We don't know yet. It's not yet clear whether people can be reinfected by this coronavirus or how long immunity might last after infection.

答案很简单:我们还不知道。目前还不清楚人们是否会再次感染这种冠状病毒，也不清楚感染后免疫系统能持续多长时间。

Immunity after recovery from COVID-19 would be a boon in the global fight to rein in the virus. People who have recovered and gained immunity would be especially valuable as health-care workers. The spread of the virus would slow if there were fewer people. And antibodies from recovered people could help in developing a treatment for the disease.

从COVID-19恢复后的免疫力将是全球控制病毒斗争的福音。康复并获得免疫的人将会与卫生保健工作者一样特别有价值。如果人少了，病毒的传播就会慢下来。从康复病人身上获得的抗体可以帮助开发出治疗这种疾病的方法。