When China locked down Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, Western commentators were quick to express concerns. After all, when a "communist government" locks down its city, what else could it be other than "draconian," "authoritarian" and "a violation of human rights"?
當中國政府對1100萬人口的武漢市實施封城時，西方評論界立刻表達了擔憂。畢竟，“共產黨政府” 封鎖城市，還能如何描述此舉呢，除了“極其嚴苛”, “專制” 和“侵犯人權”。
Now, Italy has decided to do the same, locking down the entire country. However, apparently, the two lockdowns are not the same, at least, according to America's most-watched cable news network.
如今，意大利決定實施同樣的政策，施行全國封城。顯然，中意兩國的封城不是一碼事，至少在美國收視率最高的有線電視新聞網看來。
"Italy isn't authoritarian like China or backward like Iran. It is a modern developed Western country, in many ways, like our country," says Fox News host Tucker Carlson. "Italy is now suffering almost 100 casualties, people who died, every day, from the virus ... In a few months, if nothing stops the virus, there will be millions of cases here."
福克斯電視臺主持人塔克•卡爾森在節目中指出：“意大利不像中國那樣專制，也不是像伊朗那樣落後。意大利是一個現代化的西方發達國家，在許多方面都與我們美國一樣……意大利每日新冠肺炎病死人數接近100人……在短短几個月內，如果不採取有效的防疫措施，將使美國這裡也有數百萬感染病例, ”
From the right to left, a similar narrative is followed.
不論左翼還是右翼，美國媒體的話語是類似的
The Wuhan lockdown came at great cost to "people's livelihoods and personal liberties," whereas Italy's lockdown was an effort to "contain Europe's worst coronavirus outbreak," according to the New York Times.
紐約時報報道說，武漢的封城極大損害了“人們的生計和個人自由”，而意大利的封城則是“努力遏制歐洲最嚴重的新冠病毒爆發”
All this, while the world's top epidemiologists advised social distancing, while WHO observers on the ground said Wuhan's lockdown worked and while new cases in China have declined dramatically, with most regions outside Hubei Province reporting few if any new cases at all. Besides double standards, there's an ongoing blame game too.
儘管全球頂尖的流行病專家建議採取社交隔離, 儘管世界衛生組織的實地觀察員指出武漢的封城有效, 儘管中國的新增病例數量顯著下降，絕大多數湖北以外地區新增病例已經很少，或已歸零, 除了雙重標準外，一些人還玩起了指責的遊戲.
Most recently from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who on March 9 called COVID-19 the "Chinese virus."
最近的例子是眾議院少數派領袖凱文·麥卡錫在3月9日將新冠病毒稱之為“中國病毒”
Right-wing media went one step further.
右翼媒體的指責更為激烈。
"An obscure virus arising from a meat market in eastern China to sicken American citizens in Oregon, in New Hampshire, in Illinois and midtown Manhattan. It sounds ridiculous," said Tucker Carlson.
塔克•卡爾森在節目中繼續說到：“一種從中國東部一個肉類市場傳來的不明病毒使得身在俄勒岡州、新罕布舍爾州、伊利諾伊州、曼哈頓中城的美國人病倒了，這太荒謬了。
Yes, the first cases were reported in Wuhan, China, and as Chinese, we do have a lot of introspection to do. There is no denying that. But factually, many, if not most, of the current cases in the U.S. were contracted locally, with the top four known sources being a cluster connected to a community in New Rochelle, New York; a nursing facility in Kirkland, Washington State; personal contact in the United States; and the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
是的，最早幾個病例在中國武漢發現，中國人的確有許多需要自我反省的地方，這不應該否認。但就事論事地說，美國目前的大部分病例都是本地傳播，最大的四個已知傳播來源是：位於紐約州新羅謝爾的一個社區傳播,華盛頓州柯克蘭的一家養老院內的傳播,美國境內的人員接觸,鑽石公主號郵輪上的傳播。
Traveling in China ranked 15 as a source of contracting the virus.
因去中國旅行而感染在感染來源排序中列第15位
Instead of blaming China, maybe one could look at what's happening in America, where its leaders constantly downplayed the threat of the virus.
與其指責中國，一些人其實可以看看美國自身的情況，美國的領導層不斷淡化病毒的威脅。
How's that helpful?
這樣就可以抑制病毒傳播嗎？
U.S. President Donald Trump said on February 27 that the coronavirus would disappear one day like miracle. Then on his visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on March 6, he stressed that "anybody right now and yesterday, anybody that needs a test, gets a test. "
美國總統特朗普在2月27日指出，有一天病毒會奇蹟般地得到控制。在3月6日走訪美國疾病控制與預防中心，他有說到：“所有那些曾經需要或依然需要測試的人現在能夠被測試”
But even Trump's vice president said this was not true.
但特朗普的副手也指出這並不屬實。
A day before Trump's visit to the CDC, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence stressed that the U.S. doesn't have enough tests to meet the anticipated demand going forward.
就在特朗普走訪美國疾控中心的前一天，副總統邁克彭斯承認美國沒有足夠的測試劑測試所有人。
It's understandable that both parties, especially the incumbent, need to get the optics right in an election year. But as data shows, the initial lack of information, testing and coordinated national response, unfortunately, resulted in more infections.
I want to end on a happier note. After all, there are many out there who believe that in difficult times, our common humanity matters more than our differences.
可以理解的是，兩黨尤其是執政黨需要在選舉年展現良好的執政形象。但數據顯示，由於起初的信息缺乏、測試不及時以及全國協調應對的乏力導致更多人不幸感染。
我想還是用輕鬆點的內容結束今天的討論吧。畢竟，還有許多人相信，在艱難的時刻，我們人類的共性終將跨越分歧。
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