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The alarming thing about the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is how easily it passes from one person to another.
说起新型冠状病毒SARS-CoV-2，最令人担忧的问题莫过于它人传人的时候实在是太容易了。
We’re still figuring out exactly how it spreads,
我们至今都还没弄清楚它到底是怎么传播的，
but it seems like an infected person coughing, or even just exhaling,
但貌似已经感染的人咳嗽一下，甚至是他们的呼吸，
can shed droplets carrying the virus to another person,
都能将携带着病毒的飞沫传播给另一个人，
and the rule of thumb is that as much as a 6 foot or 1.8 meter radius is everyone’s personal “splash zone.”
根据经验，我们的个人“飞溅区”是一个方圆6英尺，也就是方圆1.8米的这么一个范围。
It seems people can also spread the virus even when they’re not showing symptoms, further complicating containment.
而且，就算没有表现出症状，人们也依然能够传播病毒，这样一来，疫情防控起来就更困难了。
Without countermeasures to break the chain of transmission,
如果想不出打破传播链的对策，
the number of cases can balloon exponentially and overwhelm hospitals.
感染人数就会呈指数级增长，医院也会变得不堪重负。
To try and stop the virus in its tracks,
为了阻止病毒的传播，
many places around the world have implemented physical distancing,
世界上很多地方都推出了隔离政策，
but another tool that could fight the spread is contact tracing.
不过，除了隔离，还有一个办法能够遏制病毒的传播：接触追踪。
So, what is contact tracing, how effective is it, and how do we implement it?
那么问题来了，什么是接触追踪？它能有多有效？（有效的话）怎么实施？
This probably isn’t going to blow anyone’s mind,
大家应该都已经不陌生了，
but contact tracing is literally tracing all the people who have been in contact with an infected person.
接触追踪就是它的字面意思，追踪所有与感染者有过接触的人。
It’s the public health equivalent of detective work.
差不多就相当于公共卫生领域的侦探工作。
Sometimes it’s straightforward.
接触追踪有时是比较直接的。
Say, a hair stylist is diagnosed with the disease SARS-CoV-2 causes, COVID-19.
打个比方，一位托尼老师被诊断出患上SARS-CoV-2引起的新冠肺炎了。
Their salon likely keeps a list of all the appointments they’ve had while that stylist was working.
他所在的理发店可能还保留着他工作期间理发店所有的预约名单。
A public health worker can then use that list to contact everyone
这个时候，负责公共卫生的医务工作者就能拿着名单依次联系
who visited the salon and ask them to monitor their symptoms for two weeks.
去过那家理发店的所有人，并要求他们自行观察两周。
Some of those people may also be asked to self-quarantine,
其中一些人可能还会被要求自我隔离，
like if they had prolonged close contact with the stylist, and if, say, an appointment that took hours.
如果他们和那位托尼有过长时间的密切接触的话，比如做了好几个小时的头发之类的。
Yeah, hair appointments can take hours.
没错，弄头发确实可能弄上好几个小时的。
You think this just happens naturally?
你以为结婚戒指是那么好戴的么？
But oftentimes, contact tracing is not so simple.
问题是，通常情况下，接触追踪并没有那么简单。
People typically don’t keep detailed logs of everyone they’ve been near all the time, and our memories are imperfect.
人们一般都不会时时刻刻详细记下自己身边都有谁，而且，我们的记忆力也不那么可靠。
Even after sorting through calendars and social media posts, contacts can slip through the cracks.
就算通过日历和社交帖子来进行筛选，还是会有接触者变成漏网之鱼。
Or sometimes, an infected person may have come into contact with hundreds of people
有时，一个感染者接触的人可能就有上百个，
and a public health worker might not be able to reach them all.
负责的医务工作者可能也没办法联系到他们所有人。
And then, of everyone the public health sleuth does find and contact,
其次，这些公共卫生侦探找到并联系上的人中间，
a subset of people may just plain not want to comply.
还有一小部分可能不那么愿意配合。
Or the original infected person might not want to cooperate and reveal who they’ve been in contact with.
又或者，感染者自己就不太愿意配合，不愿透露自己都接触过谁。
In those cases, public health workers have learned that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
这时候，医务工作者们就会发现，好听的话比尖刻的言词更管用。
One of the requirements to be a contact tracer is empathy.
要当一名接触追踪者你得有同理心。
People are more likely to respect what is asked of them if they feel respected.
人们往往在自己得到了尊重的时候才比较可能尊重别人对他们提出的要求。
The good news is that a contact tracer doesn’t have to catch every potential new case to be effective.
好在并不是一个潜在感染者都不放过追踪才能有效。
One epidemiologist estimated that getting 85% of contacts to self quarantine would slow transmission significantly.
据一位流行病学家估计，成功地让85%的接触者进行自我隔离就能显著降低病毒的传播速度。
Still, leveraging technology could help contact tracers cast a bigger net.
尽管如此，利用技术可以帮助接触追踪器撒下更大的网。
In countries like Singapore and South Korea, there are smartphone apps that track who comes close to each other,
包括新加坡、韩国在内的部分国家已经有追踪大家的接触情况的手机软件了，
and if one of those people gets diagnosed with COVID-19, the others automatically get a message alerting them.
只要有一个人被诊断出了新冠肺炎病毒，其他人就会自动收到短信提醒。
Other countries like Germany are in the process of developing similar apps with more privacy protections.
其他一些国家，比如德国，也开始开发类似的软件了，他们还更注重隐私保护了。
To be effective though, one estimate by researchers at Oxford University
然而，据牛津大学的研究人员估计，要想真的有效，
suggests that at least 60% of the population would need to download the app.
下载这款软件的人数必须达到总人口的60%以上。
Downloading an app wouldn’t be necessary though if everyone had the technology automatically.
如果所有人都已经自动拥有这一技术了，那就不用下载了。
Recently, Google and Apple announced they would be building a similar feature directly into their mobile operating systems,
最近，谷歌和苹果也宣布，他们会将类似的功能直接嵌入到他们的移动操作系统里，
and are hoping to launch it by mid May.
还希望5月中旬之前能发布。
The idea is to use bluetooth transmission between phones,
具体思路就是利用手机与手机的蓝牙传输功能，
so location data isn’t tracked, just proximity to other people’s phones.
这样，大家就只需要靠近他人的手机，位置数据就不会被追踪到了。
Further privacy protections include using anonymized keys that change every 15 minutes.
进一步的隐私保护措施包括使用每15分钟更改一次的匿名密钥等。
Still, whether that assuages privacy concerns enough, or whether bluetooth is accurate enough,
尽管如此，这样做是否足以缓解大家对隐私的担忧，或者蓝牙是否够准，
or if the software even gets done and implemented before we’re on the other side of the curve remains to be seen.
又或者，拐点出现之前他们能不能把软件开发出来并用起来，这些问题都还没有见分晓。
Until then, places without this tech will have to do it the old fashioned way.
在此之前，没有这种技术的地方就只能继续采用老办法了。
Manual contact tracing is not something that can be applied in every stage of this pandemic.
人工开展的接触追踪办法不是哪个阶段都能用的。
It’s useful in the early stages to keep a lid on things,
用在疫情早期还可以，
but if the number of cases starts to explode,
如果感染人数已经开始大爆发了，
trying to individually reach out quickly becomes a sisyphean task.
人为地迅速追踪接触者就会变得徒劳无功。
In the United States there are currently around 2,200 contact tracers
美国目前有大约2200个负责接触追踪的工作人员。
employed by government health agencies,
他们都是政府的卫生机构请过来的，
but by some estimates we may need as many as 300,000 for contact tracing to be effective.
但据估计，我们可能需要足足30万个接触追踪者才能做到追踪有效。
Some places like the San Francisco Bay Area are ramping up their efforts and bringing more on board.
旧金山湾区等地已经开始加大追踪力度，被他们追踪到的人也越来越多了，
However many there are, if they can’t keep up with the spread of the virus,
但不管他们追踪到了多少人，只要他们追踪的速度没赶上病毒的传播速度，
or if public testing isn’t widespread enough to give an accurate picture of who actually has the virus,
又或者公共检测不够广泛，不能准确给出关于都有谁携带了病毒的数据，
then more dramatic measures like physical distancing mandates are necessary.
那就必须采取更强烈的措施，比如实行居家隔离政策。
Which is why I’m coming to you pre-recorded “live” from my apartment, where I’ve been for over a month.
这也是为什么今天这期节目是我在我已经宅了一个多月的房子里提前录好了的“直播”的缘故。
But someday public life will resume.
不过，公共生活总有一天是会恢复的。
I will leave this apartment again.
我会会再次走出这间房子。
And as we readjust to life on the outside,
等到我们重新适应外面的生活以后，
contact tracers will likely play a key part in making sure the virus doesn’t spread out of control again.
接触追踪可能还会在预防这一病毒二次大爆发时起到至关重要的作用。
So, if the day comes that you get a phone call and the voice on the line empathetically wants to discuss your last hair appointment,
如果有一天你接到一个电话，电话里传来的声音很和善，就是想跟你聊聊你上次弄头发的事情，
do everyone a favor and listen to what they have to say, okay?
麻烦你帮大家个忙，让他们把话说完，好吗？
COVID-19 is a huge subject, one that’s impacted each and every one of us.
新冠肺炎是一个非常庞杂的话题，一个事关我们每一个人的话题。
Check out this video if you want to know more,
如果您想了解更多有关新冠肺炎的信息，请点击这个视频，
and if there’s another aspect of coronavirus news you want to see us cover,
如果你想看我们报道有关冠状病毒的其他新闻，
let us know in the comments below.
就快来评论区告诉我们吧。
Make sure to subscribe to Seeker, and I’ll see you next time.
记得订阅Seeker噢，那我们下次再见啦。
Thanks for watching and stay safe.
感谢大家的收看，大家注意保护好自己喔。
