8 . Things You Should Know About COVID-19

COVID-19, a cousin of the SARS virus, has infected more than ten million people since the outbreak began in Wuhan, China in December, 2019. Scientists think it likely started in an animal and spread to humans. The World Health Organization offered guidance to countries on how they can prepare for it. Here are four things you should know about it.

What are the symptoms?

It’s from a family called the corona viruses. The symptoms of this illness are pretty ordinary on the face of it: it’s a dry cough fever and then breathing problems.     1     But we also know about the more severe cases, which is where people have gone on to develop viral pneumonia（病毒性肺炎）, and those people obviously end up in hospital, and all the deaths have been among those people.

How is this virus transmitted?

    2     It was hoped at first actually that it just came from animals as all corona viruses do. But now it looks as though it is actually passed from one human being to another. We’ve got people to people transmission, because the market has been closed for sometime, and there are cases in people who’ve never been near it.

    3    

So there actually isn’t any treatment at the moment at all, because this is a virus. Antibiotics（抗生素）won’t work.     4     So really you want to know antiviral treatment, but none of the flu drugs that we’ve got works effectively on this now. A corona virus is different from a flu virus, so there actually isn’t any treatment at the moment at all.

Should we be panic about this outbreak?

Though there have been so many cases so far, it is possible for us to largely reduce the risk of infection if we can take preventive measures, including regularly washing our hands, covering our sneezes, and wiping down surfaces. Good news is that in the months since, we’ve seen the social distancing measures taking effect, too.     5    

9 . Humans frequently fall ill owing to me._______, they can hardly blame me; it is largely their own_______. A tired person may get_______especially when he goes to crowded places with polluted air. A sudden change in_______ is another factor. In hot summer, people turn on the air-conditioner upon returning home. They will catch a cold easily.

My latest victim is an energetic student. After school, he played football hard for two hours. Though_______, he still went to the cinema. Then he got back home and took a cold shower immediately.

I seized this golden chance to_______ him. He reacted, trying to_______ me, but I was already_______ deep in his throat. He kept sneezing and his nose was running._______ he put on some warm clothes, it didn’t work, for there were too many of us. Besides, his sore throat kept________ him, and he developed a cough to force me and my family out, but________.

The next day he couldn’t go to________. He had lost his appetite and was not as________ as before. His mother made him orange juice every few hours for more vitamin C, which would help his________.

For two days he was________ by his mother. As he rested more, his defense strengthened and I began to feel the________. I knew I had to________ him before long. But I am not the one who gives up easily, and I made every effort to fight back.________, it was my turn to feel________ now, for his defense system was starting an all-out attack against me. I became________ and finally my time was over.

Do you know what I am?

China is expected to make more     1    （contribute）to global containment（控制）of COVID-19 by developing vaccines（疫苗） through international cooperation, leading international public health experts said. Having     2    （effective）brought the disease under control, China can work to help     3    （strong） global health systems and improve global preparedness for the next public health crisis, Seth Berkley, CEO of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations, said at a seminar last week. “China has done a remarkable job on COVID-19 control. It’s really extraordinary to see a country     4    （hit）by a severe disease respond so quickly,” he said. “China tried to slow this disease down, not just for China     5    for the world.” But with reduced COVID-19 cases in China     6    a result of its containment, domestic vaccine developers may need international cooperation so further clinical trials can be conducted in other countries. Some Chinese companies have shown interest in international cooperation,     7     can help to develop vaccines for the disease.

Berkley said some organizations wanted to work with China in the development of vaccines to contribute to containment of the disease globally. They wanted to work on bringing Chinese science and vaccine   manufacturers   to   the   world,     8     (try)   to   make   sure   that the   quality   is   there   and     9     China can work through the thicket of international regulations. China has world-class vaccine research and development teams, and vaccine manufacturing in China     10     (make) great progress over the past decades. They will continue to support China in the research, development and manufacturing of vaccines.