As Mexico fast approaches what’s highly likely to be a large coronavirus outbreak, the country’s leadership — mainly its President — mostly insists that everything is fine.
冠状病毒疫情很可能要在墨西哥大规模爆发了，但以总统为首的该国领导人大多坚称一切都好。
In speech after speech, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known by his nickname AMLO, tells Mexicans they shouldn’t fear Covid-19, even as hundreds of thousands of people have confirmed infections worldwide. Despite warnings from global health officials, he continues to hold political rallies, kiss supporters, and request that Mexicans go out shopping to prop up the country’s sputtering economy during a global slowdown.
总统安德烈斯·曼努埃尔·洛佩斯·奥布拉多尔也叫AMLO，他在一个接一个的演讲中对墨西哥人说即使全球已有数十万人确诊感染了新冠病毒，他们也无需害怕。尽管全球卫生官员发出了警告，但他仍举行政治集会、亲吻支持者、要求墨西哥人出门购物，在全球经济放缓的时候以此来支撑本国低迷的经济。
“Live life as usual,” he said in a video posted to Facebook on March 22, showing him outside at a restaurant. “If you’re able and have the means to do so, continue taking your family out to eat … because that strengthens the economy.”
3月22日，他在一家餐厅外拍了一段视频，并上传到了Facebook，他说：“正常生活。如果你有能力，可以的话，就继续带家人出来吃饭…因为这样能促进经济发展。”
AMLO’s advice, experts say, is deadly. What makes matters worse is that his policies over the past few years have set the stage for a profound health crisis. In a major effort to cut government spending, AMLO has reduced funds for the country’s hospitals and medical centers by millions. It’s left the nation short of physicians, medical equipment, beds, and coronavirus tests.
专家说总统的建议是致命的。正是过去几年他出台的政策为严重的健康危机埋下了伏笔，从而导致情况越发严峻。总统为了削减政府支出，对该国医院和医疗中心的投资减少了数百万，致使该国医生、医疗设备、病床和冠状病毒检测短缺。
That last part is especially frustrating, because Mexico has been hit hard by outbreaks before. In 2009, the H1N1 influenza was identified, originating in Mexico before it spread around the world, killing about 17,000 people in an initial count. (A 2012 Lancet study estimated there were hundreds of thousands of deaths associated with the disease.) Then, Mexico aggressively tested hundreds of thousands of its citizens to identify clusters of infection and stem the tide against transmission, said Alejandro Macías, the “czar” for the government’s emergency response at the time. “We acted then like South Korea has today,” he told me.
最后一个问题尤为严峻，因为墨西哥以前曾受到过疫情的严重打击。2009年爆发的H1N1流感起源于墨西哥，然后在全世界传播，最初统计中约有17,000人死亡。（2012年在《柳叶刀》上发表的一项研究估计数十万人的死亡都与这一疾病有关。）当时作为政府应急响应特使的Alejandro Macías说，后来墨西哥积极对数十万市民进行了检测，确定感染群，阻止病毒传播。他告诉我：“我们后来采取的行动和今天的韩国很像。”