美國總統特朗普26日在白宮宣佈，副總統彭斯將領導美國政府開展應對新冠肺炎疫情的相關工作。
而彭斯新官上任的“首把火”，竟是要求所有新冠肺炎疫情的發佈信息 “口徑一致”。
彭斯要求以後美國政府官員和衛生部門的專家對疫情的公開聲明，都必須經過副總統辦公室的協調。
此前，美國專家學者和政府官員曾就疫情判斷表態不一。
美國疾控中心專家警告疫情可能會在美國爆發，但白宮官員則認為疫情已經得到控制。
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence moved Thursday to control the flow of information from federal agencies about the virus response, ordering that public communications be cleared by their offices.
According to the Associated Press, a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the internal guidance said the decision was made to ensure the whole-of-government response was on message.
The new communications approach follows President Donald Trump's decision on Wednesday to make Pence the government's point-person for the epidemic.
《紐約時報》關於彭斯“控制”衛生部門專家的言論的報道。
據《紐約時報》報道，美國國家過敏和傳染病研究所主任安東尼•法奇（Anthony Fauci）已受到白宮指令，未來任何有關疫情的對外聲明都需要得到白宮許可。《紐約時報》認為，彭斯是在對衛生部門專家的言論進行“控制”。
The New York Times, which first reported Pence's messaging demands, also said one of the country's leading experts on viruses and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, Dr. Anthony Fauci, was instructed by the White House not to say anything else about the virus without clearance.
During his meeting with Pence on Thursday, Fauci noted "this virus has adapted extremely well to human species" and warned of the higher mortality rate of the virus than influenza.
一位名叫Judd Legum的記者也在推特上披露，法奇本週日原定有5場和疫情相關的節目，在彭斯要求所有疫情發佈信息 “口徑一致”後，這些節目都已取消。
任命彭斯遭專家反對：“不能讓政治妨礙公共衛生”
而在特朗普任命彭斯全權負責疫情工作後，他的這一決定也遭到了一些專家學者的反對。
美國醫療保障委員會（Committee to Protect Medicare）執行主任羅伯•戴維森博士（Rob Davidson）直接在推特中發起請願活動，指出彭斯曾經否認科學，也無應對重大突發事件的經驗，讓他負責疫情防控工作不合適。
Trump's decision to make Pence the lead on novel coronavirus response was received with strong disagreement by some scientists and public health experts.
Rob Davidson, the executive director of the Committee to Protect Medicare, launched a petition on Twitter calling for the removal of Pence as point-person for the epidemic.
“當下是很重要的時刻，不能讓政治妨礙公共衛生。”
在請願書中，戴維森博士提到了彭斯2015年在擔任印第安納州州長時，對該州的艾滋病疫情防控存在嚴重失職。
他指出2015年，因濫用注射藥物和共用受感染針頭致使艾滋病在印第安納州蔓延。當時，當地衛生部門的官員要求進行臨時針頭交換計劃，但彭斯將這項計劃推遲了幾個月，導致了疫情的爆發。
He pointed out that when Pence was Governor of the State of Indiana, he was responsible for the exacerbation of an outbreak of 200 HIV cases in 2015. Davidson said local health officials requested a temporary needle exchange program as the cases were related to drug abuse and the sharing of needles, but Pence delayed the program for months, resulting in the outbreak.
"With such a dubious record in the area of public health, a lack of understanding of basic science, and zero experience in disaster management, it is clear that Vice President Pence is uniquely unqualified for this important position," Davidson wrote in the petition.
耶魯大學流行病學副教授格雷格•貢薩爾維斯（Gregg Gonsalves）也發推文表示不滿，他認為這一任命決定仍囿於美國的黨派之爭。
“特朗普讓一個完全不能勝任的人來擔此要務。這一決定將大家都置於險境。這不單單是共和黨或民主黨的事。美國面臨著疫情爆發的危險，此刻更應該拋棄黨派紛爭。”
Gregg Gonsalves, assistant professor of epidemiology at Yale University also tweeted against Trump's decision, saying "This isn't a Republican or Democratic issue. We have the potential for coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. and we needed to rise above the partisan fray."
彭斯、特朗普強調 “威脅很低”，但……
彭斯27日發表講話時表示，聯邦政府已經準備好全力應對疫情，目前疫情對公眾的威脅仍然很低。
Pence stressed on Thursday that the threat from coronavirus to the American public remains low.
"Our best estimate is that the threat to the American public... remains low," Pence said. "In the days ahead we're going to make sure that the full resources of the federal government continue to be brought to bear in confronting the coronavirus here at home."
彭斯28日發推文再次表示疫情對美國威脅很低。
此前，特朗普也曾表示美國已經做好應對措施，新冠病毒蔓延的風險“非常低”。
Previously, Trump also said because of the precautions taken by the U.S., the coronavirus risk to the public "remains very low."
儘管特朗普和彭斯一致認為“威脅很低”，但對疫情的擔憂還是影響了很多美國民眾。
一些地方已經啟動了疫情防控的相關準備工作。2月25日，加利福尼亞州的舊金山市宣佈進入緊急狀態。此後，加利福尼亞州的聖地亞哥郡、聖克拉拉郡、橙郡也紛紛拉響了警報，宣佈進入緊急狀態。
與此同時，美國多地民眾也開始大量購買口罩，貯備生活用品和消毒用具。
However, concern and worry over the novel coronavirus have been increasing among the American people.
San Francisco, the northern city of California, on Tuesday declared a local emergency over novel coronavirus, followed by San Diego County, Santa Barbara County, and Orange County.
Stores in the U.S. started running low on masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer amid growing fears of the virus. Some people also began stocking up on food and medical supplies.
而在亞馬遜網站上，各種醫用型、防護型口罩大面積脫銷，價格也比平時高了三、四倍。
以平臺上某第三方商家銷售的N95口罩為例，10個3M 8511 N95口罩標出了229.99美元（約合人民幣1608元）的高價，平均一個口罩23美元（約人民幣合160元）。
亞馬遜已警告銷售平臺上的第三方銷售商，在疫情期間不能哄抬口罩價格。
On the e-commerce platform Amazon, prices for some medical or protective masks have tripled and, in some cases, even quadrupled. Though getting price gouged, masks on the platform are still in short supply. Amazon said it has warned third-party sellers on its marketplace platform not to gouge customers on protective face masks.
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