[ti:US Capital Tries to Cut Visits To Famed Cherry Blossoms Park] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Washington, D.C.'s cherry trees are known around the world for their blossoms. [00:07.60]The beautiful flowers brighten up many areas along the Potomac River each spring. [00:15.32]But this year as the blossoms go through peak bloom, the District of Columbia government [00:21.96]is trying to stop visits to the Tidal Basin, where many of the trees grow. [00:28.92]D.C. officials have appealed to the United States National Park Service to close off the area [00:36.60]as part of efforts to help stop the spread of the new coronavirus. [00:43.56]Officials say the expected crowds make it impossible [00:48.24]for people to stay at least two meters from one another as health experts have advised. [00:57.00]The Metropolitan Police Department closed several streets, bridges [01:02.56]and traffic circles in the area Sunday morning, trying to limit the usual crowds. [01:11.04]The cherry trees reached full bloom on Friday and should stay that way for about 10 days. [01:20.64]"It's getting weirder and weirder," said National Park Service spokesman [01:26.08]Mike Litterst about his efforts to stop people from visiting. [01:31.40]Officials are instead directing cherry blossom lovers to the "live" bloom camera and video recordings of the Tidal Basin. [01:43.12]"It's educational and it gets you close to the blossoms," said Karyn Le Blanc of the Cherry Blossom Festival. [01:51.60]"These are strange times," she added. [01:56.40]The crowds, Litterst said, have already been much smaller than "what we would see in a normal spring." [02:05.44]But, he added, Saturday brought in such a jump in the number of visitors that officials were persuaded to take action. [02:15.92]The effort to reduce visiting appears to be working. [02:21.48]At the Tidal Basin Sunday, visitors walked in small groups of three or four instead of larger groups. [02:30.80]The street closures slowed traffic in a few places. [02:35.88]But in some areas, families enjoyed the streets newly open to walkers only. [02:44.64]Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser on Friday asked both city residents and visitors [02:51.84]to stay inside and away from other people. [02:56.64]Washington's public transport system closed down two stations nearest to the Tidal Basin in the hopes of reducing crowds. [03:07.88]"Don't treat this like a normal weekend, there will be more nice days," Bowser said. [03:16.28]She declared a state of emergency and closed all schools through the end of April. [03:23.64]The total number of coronavirus infections is now more than 500 in D.C. [03:30.08]and the nearby states of Virginia and Maryland. [03:35.44]Washington-based star chef and philanthropist Jose Andres [03:40.36]took to Twitter Sunday morning to ask people to avoid the Tidal Basin. [03:46.88]Under the hashtag #StayHomeCherryBlossomsChallenge, Andres promised [03:52.56]to "cook a huge Paella for thousands of Washingtonians" next year if they kept the crowds small. [04:02.68]His followers supported his request by posting pictures of their cherry blossom trees [04:09.00]in their neighborhoods for all to enjoy online. [04:14.76]I'm Jonathan Evans. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM