[ti:More Testing in US May Show How Coronavirus Is Spreading] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]An increase in testing for the new coronavirus in the United States may show how the illness has spread. [00:10.92]More testing will bring more confirmed cases, experts say. [00:16.48]But that does not mean the virus is gaining speed, they note. [00:22.04]The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, says the disease COVID-19 been confirmed in at least 12 states. [00:34.16]COVID is the name for the disease caused by the new coronavirus. [00:40.68]Officials in Washington state have announced at least nine deaths. [00:45.64]At least four people died at a nursing home in the city of Kirkland. [00:51.80]The county where Kirkland is located has announced plans to buy a hotel that it will turn into a hospital for infected patients. [01:02.60]The deaths at the nursing home are troubling to health care experts because the sick and elderly are especially vulnerable to the disease. [01:13.96]The CDC recently expanded its guidelines for who should be tested. [01:19.96]It now recommends testing on people with signs of the illness but without a travel history to virus outbreak areas. [01:30.24]In Seattle, Washington, schools and some businesses have closed. [01:35.48]But health experts say that closures are not always helpful. [01:41.08]Closing schools and canceling large gatherings are considered what is called social distancing. [01:48.52]That is the idea that keeping people apart will reduce the spread of the illness. [01:56.28]The evidence supporting the use of those steps is "not as strong as we would like it to be," [02:03.24]said Jennifer Nuzzo, who is with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. [02:10.56]Measures such as school closures have been used during flu outbreaks. [02:16.56]But the new coronavirus is not acting exactly like the flu, and such steps are not guaranteed to work. [02:26.56]"Maybe it makes people more likely to stay at home. Maybe it doesn't if people re-congregate elsewhere," Nuzzo said. [02:36.44]There are no proven treatments for COVID-19. [02:40.52]In China, scientists have been testing a combination of HIV drugs against the new virus, [02:48.48]as well as an experimental drug named remdesivir that was in development to fight Ebola. [02:56.76]In the U.S., the University of Nebraska Medical Center also began testing remdesivir [03:04.68]in some Americans who were found to have COVID-19 after being taken off a passenger ship in Japan. [03:13.32]It is not clear how quickly such efforts will answer provide answers about the new drugs. [03:19.80]Many patients recover without needing any treatment. [03:24.40]The biggest concern is how to help the small number of people who become severely ill. [03:31.36]In Washington, D.C., lawmakers are negotiating legislation that would provide money for efforts to contain the virus. [03:40.92]The measure would provide money for both federal and state response efforts. [03:46.80]It would support the federal government's efforts to develop and produce a vaccine. [03:53.72]And it would offer Small Business Administration disaster loans to help businesses directly affected by the virus crisis. [04:03.80]I'm Ashley Thompson. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM