Voicy初の公式英語ニュースチャンネル「Voicy News Brief with articles from New York Times」。チャンネルでは、バイリンガルパーソナリティがThe New York Timesの記事を英語で２つ読み、記事の中に出てくる単語を日本語で解説しています。

Voicy Journalでは、毎週金曜日にその週に読んだ記事を、まとめて紹介します！１週間の終わりに、その週の放送をもう１度聞いて復習するのも良いかもしれません。VoicyのPCページやアプリでは、再生速度も変えられるので、自分の理解度に応じて、調整してみましょう。

7/18(土)の放送

CVS Fined for Safety Issues at Oklahoma Pharmacies

著者：Ellen Gabler
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company

In a rare public rebuke of the nation’s largest retail pharmacy chain, state regulators in Oklahoma cited and fined CVS for conditions found at four of its pharmacies, including inadequate staffing and errors made in filling prescriptions.

While the fine of $125,000 on Wednesday was small for CVS Health — it paid its chief executive $36.5 million in total compensation last year and is the country’s fifth-largest company — the move validated concerns raised at multiple drugstore chains across the country by pharmacists and technicians who say understaffed workplaces are putting the public at risk.

CVS also agreed to distribute a memo to its pharmacists in the state, highlighting a law that requires them to take action if working conditions in their pharmacies could lead to problems safely filling prescriptions. The memo is to make clear that they are not to face retaliation for documenting and reporting such issues.

In a statement, a CVS spokesman said the company agreed to the terms to “avoid the time and expense of a protracted hearing process and to foster a positive working relationship” with the Oklahoma State Board of Pharmacy. The spokesman said the action did not constitute an admission of guilt by the company on all counts.

The state board inspected the four pharmacies from mid-2019 to early this year after receiving multiple complaints about errors and overwhelmed staff members.

One of those errors occurred last year when a developmentally disabled teenager received one-fourth of his prescribed dose of anticonvulsant medication from a CVS in Owasso, a suburb north of Tulsa, according to a complaint filed by the board. The boy took the incorrect dosage for 18 days, during which his seizures became uncontrollable, causing him to fall and hit his head, said his father, Aron Brown.

As part of its agreement Wednesday, CVS will pay a $75,000 fine for that incident — the highest amount allowed under state law for this case — and its Owasso pharmacy will remain on probation for two years.

Most state investigations focus on pharmacists, not conditions in their workplaces. In Oklahoma, the state board has begun investigating broader workplace issues when responding to complaints and doing routine inspections.

rebuke 叱責、非難
prescription 処方、処方箋
retaliation 仕返し、報復　　　
protract (〜を)長引かせる、延ばす
constitute (～を) 構成する
anticonvulsant 抗けいれん薬
seizure 発作、突然の発症

Vatican Tells Bishops to Report Sex Abuse to Police (but Doesn’t Require It)

著者：Elisabetta Povoledo
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company

ROME — The Vatican has told bishops around the world to report cases of clerical sex abuse to civil authorities even where local laws don’t require it — a step that abuse victims and their advocates have demanded over the decades in which the scandal has roiled the Roman Catholic Church.

The Vatican also urged bishops to investigate even abuse claims that seem to be “doubtful,” or are made anonymously, rather than dismissing them outright.

But the new instructions are not binding and were not enshrined in the church’s canon law, prompting criticism that the Vatican still gives bishops too much leeway in judging the conduct of their priests. The instructions were instead part of a new handbook intended to guide bishops and religious superiors who may have little experience handling abuse cases.

“What is important to remember today is that it is still allowable under canon law for a bishop to not report a priest who is raping a child; it is still allowed for thousands of the world’s bishops,” Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, a victims advocacy and research group, said in a telephone interview.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, which has long called for mandatory reporting to the police, called the new guidance “a step forward, but the smallest of steps.”

The change comes after three popes over three decades have tried to manage an abuse scandal that has involved tens of thousands of accusations against priests and clerics.

Pope Francis, who was elected in 2013, has gone further than his predecessors, experts say, in trying to establish a universal set of practices for a global church, consulting abuse victims and laypeople and urging church leaders to cooperate with civil authorities.

But Francis has also been accused of falling short of actually enacting into law the forceful reforms he has advocated. An unprecedented sexual abuse summit at the Vatican in February 2019 raised hopes that a turning point had been reached, but it fell short of providing the clear global battle plan that Catholics have demanded.

Critics say the biggest, perennial problem for the church has been the lack of transparency and the continued failure to hold bishops accountable.

clerical 聖職者の 牧師の　　　
roil (かき乱して)濁らせる
enshrined　(〜を) 安置する
leeway 余裕、余地　　
advocacy　擁護、弁護、支持
laypeople 　庶民、聖職者以外の者
enact　(法律などを) 制定する、成立させる
perennial　長続きする、何度も繰り返される

7/19(日)の放送

Ending an Era, British Airways Retires Fleet of Boeing 747s

著者：Megan Specia
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company

LONDON — British Airways will retire its entire fleet of Boeing 747 airplanes, the company said Friday, citing the travel downturn and the aircraft’s high operating costs.

The decision symbolized the end of an era of aviation in which the next generation of planes was always expected to be bigger, as well as better. Even 50 years after their introduction, the sight of the 747s gliding into their docks, dwarfing other planes, could evoke a thrill in the most jaded of travelers.

The world’s first jumbo jet, known as the “Queen of the Skies,” the 747 revolutionized travel for the masses, but in recent years it had fallen out of favor with a number of airlines because of the costs.

The final commercial flight of a Boeing 747 by a U.S. carrier took place at the end of 2017. But British Airways had held on, operating the world’s largest fleet of the planes, with 31 in service. A handful of other commercial carriers still fly the 747.

“It is with great sadness that we can confirm we are proposing to retire our entire 747 fleet with immediate effect,” British Airways said in a statement. “It is unlikely our magnificent ‘Queen of the Skies’ will ever operate commercial services for British Airways again due to the downturn in travel caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic.”

In recent years, advances in technology made the four-engine 747 far pricier to operate than modern twin-engine planes.

The move is especially poignant for British Airways, which received its first Boeing 747-400 in 1989 and its last in April 1999. British Airways’ predecessor, BOAC, began flying versions of the 747 in the early 1970s. At the height of the craft’s deployment, British Airways had 57 of the jumbo jets and was the second-biggest operator of the planes, after Japan Airlines, which had more than 100 in its fleet.

Some commercial carriers still operate passenger flights on the 747, including Air China, Korean Air and Lufthansa. A number of companies, including UPS, also use the 747 freighter to transport cargo.

British Airways was set to retire the last of its Boeing 747s in 2024, but as the coronavirus saw travel grind to a halt, threatening the finances of airlines the world over, that time frame was pushed forward.

Aviation 飛行、航空
Dwarf 小人、小さく見せる
Revolutionize 革命を起こす
Downturn 下降、沈滞
Poignant 胸を刺すような、激しい
Deployment 配置、展開

FTC’s Facebook Investigation May Stretch Past Election

著者：Cecilia Kang
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company

WASHINGTON — Nearly a year ago, Joseph J. Simons, the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, predicted his agency would wrap up an antitrust investigation of Facebook by the presidential election.

That goal now seems virtually impossible, according to numerous people with knowledge of the inquiry. Instead, it will probably roll into next year, when there may be a new president choosing its leader. The change could alter the commission’s priorities.

The investigation into whether the tech giant has broken antitrust laws continues to move along, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was private. A round of document production from the company and its rivals was done in the spring, and staff members appear to be preparing depositions of Facebook’s top leadership, including its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, according to the people. The agency also began looking into concerns by rivals about Facebook’s recent acquisition of Giphy, a search database for short video clips.

But investigations often require multiple rounds of document requests, and the interviews will take time to complete, indicating that the agency is far from finishing its review and deciding whether to pursue a lawsuit, the people said.

The FTC declined to comment.

The handling of the case by the agency and Simons stands in stark contrast to the antitrust investigation into Google by the Justice Department. Attorney General William Barr, who like Simons was appointed by President Donald Trump, has been vocal about his desire to wrap up the Justice Department’s antitrust inquiry into Google. He is widely expected to bring a suit this year, though no decision has been made. Simons has said very little publicly about the case.

The FTC’s investigation of Facebook is seen as a test of the agency’s ability to enforce antitrust laws in the internet economy, where market definitions and theories of violations have been hard to prove. In 2013, the agency closed an investigation into Google without charges, a decision often criticized by consumer groups.

The FTC has not disclosed details of its investigation, but it appears the agency is partly focused on whether Facebook illegally maintained its dominance in social networking through acquisitions. The company has bought more than 80 companies over the last 15 or so years.

Antitrust 独占禁止
Depositions 官職剥奪、罷免、宣誓証書
Acquisition 獲得、習得、買収
Enforce 実行する、実施する
Dominance 優越、権勢

7/20(月)の放送

EU Leaders Meet to Discuss Virus Rescue Plan, With Obstacles Ahead

著者：Matina Stevis-Gridneff
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company

BRUSSELS — European Union leaders gathered Friday to start hammering out a giant aid package to help their economies recover from the coronavirus calamity. But even before they began, the haggling had exposed fundamental differences between member states that must be finessed in coming days if they are to succeed in saving Europe’s economy.

The major sticking point is how much latitude to give those receiving the aid to spend it as they please. Since much of the money is being guaranteed by wealthier northern states, some of them are demanding that strings be attached to push economic, political, environmental and social reforms.

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, whose nation recently took over the EU’s rotating presidency and who has led efforts to push ahead with the package, previously sounded optimistic. But she was cautious as she arrived Friday about the prospects of reaching a deal this weekend.

“It would be desirable but we must also face reality,” she said. “I expect very difficult negotiations.”

It was the first time EU leaders held an in-person meeting since the outbreak of the pandemic that has upended so many of their plans, and officials hoped that being together would help them advance compromise faster.

Footage of their greetings showed them wearing masks and greeting each other with gentle bows and elbow-bumps. The leaders of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia — who have most challenged the bloc’s liberal, democratic principles — broke ranks and posed together maskless.

The show of bonhomie disguised real domestic political pressures and long-standing cultural differences that have put a brake on the quest for a swift agreement spearheaded by Merkel along with France’s president, Emmanuel Macron.

The leaders will try to agree on 1.8 trillion euros in funding — about $2 trillion — of which just over 1.1 trillion euros will be allocated to the bloc’s budget for the next seven years, the normal way of setting out EU spending, and 750 billion euros will be separated out for a pandemic recovery fund.

The recovery component of the package being debated includes a bold proposal that will enable the EU administrative branch, the European Commission, to borrow in the financial markets on a large scale and offer part of the funds it raises for free in the form of grants to needy members.

calamity 　大きな不幸、惨事
haggle 押し問答をする、言い争う
finesse (問題などを)うまく解決する
　(名) finesse 手際、手腕　(類) skill, capacity
sticking point (行き詰まりの)原因、障害
latitude （思想や行動の）自由範囲
　*latus (幅) + tude (幅の広い)　
　*(地理) latitude 緯度、longitude 経度
upend 逆さにする、ひっくり返す、台無しにする
bonhomie　気さく、人のよさ
（仏）good man (bon+homme)
spearhead　先頭に立つ
　*spear (やり)+head

Older Children Spread the Coronavirus Just as Much as Adults, Study Finds

著者：Apoorva Mandavilli
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company

In the heated debate over reopening schools, one burning question has been whether and how efficiently children can spread the virus to others.

A large new study from South Korea offers an answer: Children younger than age 10 transmit to others much less often than adults do, but the risk is not zero. And those between the ages of 10-19 can spread the virus at least as well as adults do.

The findings suggest that as schools reopen, communities will see clusters of infection take root that include children of all ages, several experts cautioned.

“I fear that there has been this sense that kids just won’t get infected or don’t get infected in the same way as adults and that, therefore, they’re almost like a bubbled population,” said Michael Osterholm, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Minnesota.

“There will be transmission,” Osterholm said. “What we have to do is accept that now and include that in our plans.”

South Korean researchers identified 5,706 people who were the first to report COVID-19 symptoms in their households between Jan. 20 and March 27, when schools were closed, and then traced the 59,073 contacts of these “index cases.” They tested all of the household contacts of each patient, regardless of symptoms, but only tested symptomatic contacts outside the household.

The first person in a household to develop symptoms is not necessarily the first to have been infected, and the researchers acknowledged this limitation. Children are also less likely than adults to show symptoms, so the study may have underestimated the number of children who set off the chain of transmission within their households.

Children under age 10 were roughly half as likely as adults to spread the virus to others, consistent with other studies. That may be because children generally exhale less air — and therefore less virus-laden air — or because they exhale that air closer to the ground, making it less likely that adults would breathe it in.

The study is more worrisome for children in middle and high school. This group was even more likely to infect others than adults were, the study found. But some experts said that finding may be a fluke or may stem from the children’s behaviors.

index case 発端患者
　*index （名）指標、指数
laden たくさん持って
　*lade (動) (荷物などを)積む
fluke まぐれ当たり
stem from … ～から生じる、由来する
　*stem(名) 茎

7/21(火)の放送

Once a Model City, Hong Kong Grapples With a New Coronavirus Wave

著者：Javier C. Hernández and Tiffany May
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company

Hong Kong once seemed like a model for how to control the coronavirus. Schools were open. Restaurants and malls buzzed with crowds. Buses and trains operated as usual, with residents dutifully wearing face masks on board.

But a new wave of infections in recent days has put the city on edge. Hospitals are now seeing more cases a day than they ever have during the pandemic. More important, health officials are unable to determine the origin of many of these cases, despite having a robust contact tracing system in place.

The government reported 73 cases Monday, one of the highest totals for a single day. In short order, the virus has spread across the city, infecting clerical staff at a government-run eye clinic, residents at a senior center and cleaning workers at the airport.

“The situation is very serious, and there is no sign of it coming under control,” Carrie Lam, chief executive of Hong Kong, said Sunday as she announced new restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus.

The city had been widely praised by international experts for its response to the pandemic. It moved quickly to tighten its borders and impose quarantine rules, containing outbreaks traced first to travelers from mainland China and then to Hong Kong residents returning from Europe and the United States.

But the latest outbreak has puzzled top health experts.

Officials have so far been unable to trace how a significant number of people caught the virus, a worrisome sign, epidemiologists say, that makes it more difficult to break the chain of transmission. Most people who tested positive for the virus have not traveled and have not been linked to known clusters.

After easing restrictions on daily life in recent weeks, Hong Kong officials are once again imposing tough measures aimed at slowing the spread of the virus. Masks are required indoors in public spaces, and dining at restaurants after 6 p.m. is banned. The government has ordered gyms, movie theaters and swimming pools to close once again. About 40% of government workers have been asked to stay home.

The government is expanding its testing of residents, especially of those considered to be at a high risk of contracting the virus, including older adults, taxi drivers and restaurant workers.

grapple with　取っ組み合う、取り組む
dutifully　従順に
　[語源：duty(義務)+full(に満ちた)+-ly(様子で)]
on edge　緊張状態
　[イメージ：v ←この上に乗っている感じ]
robust　しっかりした、健康的な
clerical　事務員の、(7/18 牧師の)
　[親戚：clerk(事務官、銀行員、店員など)]
impose　課す
　[語源：im(中に)+pose(置く)→責任を課す]
quarantine　隔離、検疫
　[☝️ペストの時、船がquara(40)日間上陸前に待機]
worrisome　心配な
　[語源：worry(心配)+-some(〜を起こす)]
　[参考：tiresome(疲れを引き起こすような)]
contract　(病気に)かかる
　[語源：con(一緒に)+tract(引く、描く)]

New York City Enters Phase 4, but Restaurants and Bars Are Left Behind

著者：Dana Rubinstein and Sean Piccoli
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company

NEW YORK — For the 25,000 restaurants and bars in New York City, Monday was supposed to be a day of celebration — the turning point when the city would enter Phase 4, the final phase of reopening after the coronavirus outbreak.

Instead, the start of Phase 4 marks a roadblock on New Yorkers’ path to normalcy and serves as another reminder that the city, once the national center of the virus, is still subject to more restrictions than the rest of the state, even though it has flattened the curve.

On Friday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that New York City would enter Phase 4 — with caveats. Zoos and botanical gardens could open, but museums and indoor dining, permitted elsewhere in the state with limitations, would still be banned.

A day earlier, Cuomo said that in New York City, bars and restaurants would be subject to a special “Three Strikes and You’re Closed” regimen: If they overlooked violations of social distancing rules or allowed customers to drink without ordering food, they could lose their liquor licenses after three violations.

Both state and city officials have said that, while they are eager to reopen widely, they also fear that the virus could seep back into the region from Sun Belt states that are experiencing huge surges in coronavirus cases. In states like Florida and Texas, indoor bars and restaurants have fueled the spread of the disease.

So instead of a festive atmosphere over the weekend, bars and restaurants were grappling with new, confusing limitations, and had no clear picture of when their economic outlook might brighten.

The governor said the new restrictions were necessary because city revelers needed to be reined in. Since outdoor dining was allowed to resume June 22, he said Thursday, state inspectors had found “significant evidence of failure to comply.”

The scene on Steinway Street in Astoria, Queens, over the weekend, where maskless revelers converted the commercial strip into a de facto dance club, seemed to prove the governor’s point that some New York City residents were ignoring the pandemic restrictions.

De Blasio, who often clashes with the governor, was on the same page when it came to the Steinway crowds.

“Party’s over,” de Blasio said on Twitter on Sunday night. “Dedicated sheriff patrols will be on Steinway until further notice.”

roadblock　障害、検問のバリケード
normalcy　正常状態
　[親戚：normal(正常、普通)]
caveats　警告
　[☝️何か特定の行動をしないようにという警告]
regimen　ルール
　[語源：reg(まっすぐ動く)→まっすぐ導く]
surges　急上昇
　[語源：sub(下から上に)+reg(まっすぐ動く)]
grappling　格闘している(Pickup Vocab 1と共通)
revelers　飲んで浮かれ騒ぐ人
reined in　制御する、手綱を引いて歩を緩める
　[☝️rein(手綱)]
de facto　事実上の(7/14の復習)
on the same page　同意見

7/22(水)の放送

Global Warming Is Driving Polar Bears Toward Extinction, Researchers Say

著者：Henry Fountain
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company

Polar bears could become nearly extinct by the end of the century as a result of shrinking sea ice in the Arctic if global warming continues unabated, scientists said Monday.

Nearly all of the 19 subpopulations of polar bears, from the Beaufort Sea off Alaska to the Siberian Arctic, would face being wiped out because the loss of sea ice would force the animals onto land and away from their food supplies for longer periods, the researchers said. Prolonged fasting, and reduced nursing of cubs by mothers, would lead to rapid declines in reproduction and survival.

“There is very little chance that polar bears would persist anywhere in the world, except perhaps in the very high Arctic in one small subpopulation” if greenhouse-gas emissions continue at so-called business-as-usual levels, said Peter K. Molnar, a researcher at the University of Toronto Scarborough and lead author of the study, which was published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Even if emissions were reduced to more moderate levels, “we still are unfortunately going to lose some, especially some of the southernmost populations, to sea-ice loss,” Molnar said.

The fate of polar bears has long been a flashpoint in the debate over human-caused climate change, used by scientists and environmentalists as well as deniers in their arguments.

By rough estimates there are about 25,000 polar bears in the Arctic. Their main habitat is sea ice, where they hunt seals by waiting for them to surface at holes in the ice. In some areas the bears remain on the ice year round, but in others the melting in spring and summer forces them to come ashore.

“You need the sea ice to capture your food,” Molnar said. “There’s not enough food on land to sustain a polar bear population.” But bears can fast for months, surviving on the energy from the fat they’ve built up thanks to their seal diet.

Arctic sea ice grows in the winter and melts and retreats in spring and summer. As the region has warmed rapidly in recent decades, ice extent in summer has declined by about 13% per decade compared to the 1981-2010 average. Some parts of the Arctic that previously had ice year-round now have ice-free periods in summer. Other parts are now free of ice for a longer portion of the year than in the past.

extinction　絶滅・消滅
unabated　衰えない
prolonged　長期化する、長引く
persist　存続する、生き残る
flashpoint　引火点
denier　否定者
habitat　生息環境

After Dismissing Coronavirus Surge, Trump Wants to Talk About the Virus Again

著者：Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company

WASHINGTON — By the time he canceled the show midseason, even President Donald Trump had grown weary of his televised coronavirus briefings. Angry at the reviews, he declared the briefings “not worth the time & effort,” a conclusion shared by his own advisers and allies who had come to see them as hurting more than helping.

But while the freewheeling sessions with their cascades of misinformation and petty outbursts had become self-destructive, nothing else has taken their place as a way for Trump to get his message out given his lack of success reviving his favorite campaign rallies. And so, the president said on Monday that he was bringing back the virus briefings nearly two months after calling them off.

The decision to resume the briefings amounts to a tacit acknowledgment that the public health crisis that Trump has sought to put behind him is still ravaging much of the country as he heads toward a fall election season trailing badly in the polls. With new infections, hospitalizations and now deaths on the rise, especially in the South and West, it has become increasingly difficult for the president to simply shrug off the outbreaks as mere “embers” that can be easily smothered.

“Frankly, a lot of the country is doing well — a lot of the people don’t say it, as you understand,” Trump said in his comments Monday. “But we’ve have had this big flare-up in Florida, Texas, a couple of other places. And so I think what we’re going to do is I’ll get involved and we’ll start doing briefings.”

The original coronavirus briefings from March to April were made-for-television events, with scientific information provided by public health experts often overshadowed by a confrontational president castigating governors, lawmakers, China, reporters and others. Trump eventually quit holding them after he was widely mocked for suggesting that people might be able to counter the virus by ingesting or injecting disinfectants.

surge　急上昇、急増
called off　取りやめる、中止する
amounts to　〜に相当する
tacit　暗黙の
trailing　リードされる
polls　世論調査
mere　単なる
embers　残り火
smothered　制圧する、抑え込む

7/23(木)の放送

U.S. Accuses Hackers of Trying to Steal Virus Vaccine Data for China

著者：Julian E. Barnes
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department accused a pair of Chinese hackers on Tuesday of targeting vaccine development on behalf of the country’s intelligence service as part of a broader yearslong campaign of cybertheft aimed at an array of industries around the world including defense contractors, high-end manufacturing and solar energy companies.

Justice Department officials labeled the suspects, Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi, as a blended threat who sometimes worked on behalf of China’s spy services and sometimes worked to enrich themselves. The officials said that an indictment secured against them earlier this month and unsealed on Tuesday was the first to target such a threat.

American government officials said that the suspects had previously stolen information about other Chinese intelligence targets like human rights activists and, at the behest of China’s spy service, shifted focus this year to trying to acquire COVID-19 vaccine research.

The indictment came as the Trump administration has stepped up its criticism of Beijing, both for its theft of secrets and its failure to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, and is a significant escalation of that campaign to denounce Beijing. The Justice Department said that China’s covert activity could potentially set back research efforts.

The accusations also came days after the United States and allied countries accused Russia of trying to steal information on vaccine development.

The Chinese embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The suspects are unlikely to be brought to trial because China does not have an extradition treaty with the United States. The charges were the latest in a continuing campaign by the Justice Department to secure indictments against private groups and intelligence officials involved in hacking campaigns as a deterrent and to raise awareness.

The suspects targeted hundreds of computer networks around the world and caused unnamed companies to lose hundreds of millions of dollars of intellectual property, according to the indictment. For example, the hackers stole research on radio and laser technology from a California defense firm and engineering drawings for a gas turbine from a company working in the United States and Japan, court papers showed.

Justice Department and FBI officials said the hackers were pursuing information and research about the coronavirus vaccine from American biotech firms but described it as an attempt; the indictment did not say they successfully stole information or research on the coronavirus vaccine.

indictment 起訴、告発、起訴状
behest 命令、要請
denounce 公然と非難する、告発する
extradition 逃亡犯の引き渡し

A Kangaroo Got Loose in Florida. Now Its Owner May Face Charges.

著者：Johnny Diaz
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company

MIAMI — Last week, a kangaroo bounded out of a backyard in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and hopped for about three blocks with the police in pursuit. Now its owner may be charged for allowing the animal to escape and for not having the records to show how he acquired it, authorities said Tuesday.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has recommended that Anthony Macias, 24, of Fort Lauderdale, be charged with two second-degree misdemeanors, said Carol Lyn Parrish, a spokeswoman for the agency. Macias may also face a noncriminal infraction for not having a license to possess the kangaroo, she added.

Paula McMahon, a spokeswoman for the Broward State Attorney’s Office, said prosecutors would review the case against Macias once the state wildlife commission presented it to them. The misdemeanor charges each carry a maximum penalty of 60 days in jail and a $500 fine, she said.

Steven A. Schaet, the lawyer representing Macias, said that “we will do what we need to rectify the situation.”

“He would like to get the kangaroo back if possible,” Schaet said.

Macias said in an interview on Tuesday that the kangaroo, named Jack, bounced out of his backyard north of downtown Fort Lauderdale on July 16 after he left the side gate open. He said he acquired the kangaroo about three months ago, but declined to say how.

“I was in a rush to take out the recycling bin to get to work and I didn’t shut the gate all the way,” said Macias, a septic tank technician.

People called 911 to report the unusual sight of a kangaroo hopping through their neighborhood. “I’m trying to catch a kangaroo,” a police officer says in body camera footage released by the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. The video shows officers as they followed the marsupial, then peacefully corralled him and placed him in a squad car.

“The kangaroo has been transferred to a permitted facility until a permanent placement location can be determined” by the state wildlife commission, Parrish said.

Kangaroos may be kept as pets in Florida as long as their owners have the proper permits, she said. However, Fort Lauderdale does not allow “exotic animals” to be kept within its city limits, police said.

Macias described Jack as friendly.

“Anytime he meets somebody new, he gives them a hug,” he said.

misdemeanor 非行、軽犯罪
rectify 是正する、直す
be in a rush 急いでいる
corral (家畜)を囲いに入れる、人々を集める

7/24(金)の放送

Pfizer Gets $1.95 Billion to Produce Coronavirus Vaccine by Year’s End

著者：Noah Weiland, Denise Grady and David E. Sanger
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company

WASHINGTON — As nations around the world race to lock up coronavirus vaccines even before they are ready, the Trump administration on Wednesday made one of the largest investments yet, announcing a nearly $2 billion contract with Pfizer and a German biotechnology company for 100 million doses by December.

The contract is part of what the White House calls the Warp Speed project, an effort to drastically shorten the time it would take to manufacture and distribute a working vaccine. So far, the United States has put money into more than a half dozen efforts, hoping to build manufacturing ability for an eventual breakthrough.

Europe has a parallel effort underway. Germany recently took a 23% stake in a German firm, CureVac, that President Donald Trump once tried to lure to American shores in hopes that its vaccine, if successful, would be distributed in the United States first. A European-led fundraising effort in May brought $8 billion in pledges from the world’s governments, philanthropists and leaders for coronavirus vaccine research, even with the United States sitting out the conference.

China has militarized the effort: Researchers associated with the Academy of Military Medical Sciences have developed one of China’s leading vaccine candidates, and another Chinese company, Sinopharm Group, announced in June that it was beginning Phase 3 trials in the United Arab Emirates.

The Pfizer contract, an agreement to ensure the pharmaceutical giant has a market for its work, is the biggest splash yet by the Americans. If the vaccine being produced by Pfizer and BioNTech, the German firm, proves to be safe and effective in clinical trials, the companies say they could manufacture those first 100 million doses by the end of the year.

Under the arrangement, the federal government would obtain that first batch for $1.95 billion, or about $20 a dose, with the rights to acquire up to 500 million more, or 600 million total. Americans would receive the vaccine for free. Before it could be distributed, it would need emergency approval by the Food and Drug Administration. But the U.S. government does not pay the nearly $2 billion until the drug is approved and the first 100 million doses are delivered.

to lock up　　　　 確保（注意：珍しい使い方）
dose　　　　　　　服用量／〜回分
a half dozen　　　半ダーズ　(half a dozenも◎)
　(dozen = 12 で 12 x ½ = 6)
the biggest splash （一番）大きな反響を呼ぶ

U.S. Hospitalizations for the Coronavirus Near April Peak

著者：Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Sarah Mervosh
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company

They are hooked up to ventilators, relying on the machines to breathe. They are taking experimental drugs that doctors hope will ease their agony. They are isolated from their families, fighting to recover on their own.

More people are on track to be hospitalized with the coronavirus in the United States than at any point in the pandemic, a disturbing sign of how the current surge has spread widely and is seriously sickening as many people as ever.

Across the country, 59,628 people were being treated in hospitals Wednesday, according to the COVID Tracking Project, nearing an earlier peak of 59,940 on April 15, when the center of the outbreak was New York.

The country is averaging more than 66,000 new virus cases per day, more than twice as many as a month ago, and deaths have also started trending upward, with an average of more than 800 daily. But hospitalizations may be the clearest measure of how widely the virus is causing the most serious illnesses, and could offer a glimpse of what is ahead.

Not long ago, things seemed to be improving. Fewer than 28,000 patients were hospitalized as of mid-June, when a new surge of cases was appearing throughout the Sun Belt.

The uptick in hospitalized patients around the country reflects a different phase of the pandemic — a widening geographic area, especially across the South, for the most serious illnesses compared with what had been a relatively concentrated crisis in the spring.

Back then, nearly 1 in 5 hospitalized patients were in New York, and the city had to set up mobile morgues. Now the situation looks different, and California, where the virus is surging, has reported more cases than New York. In the past week, both Florida and Texas have added an average of more than 10,000 reported cases each day, with California not far behind.

The spike in hospitalizations for the virus has been driven in part by people younger than 50. That group made up nearly 40% of the hospitalizations as of earlier this month, compared with 26% in late April, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The majority of hospitalizations — about 60% — are in the South, according to the COVID Tracking Project, which is run by The Atlantic and collects state hospitalization data.

hooked up to 　〜に繋がっている／〜に接続されている
ventilators 　　人工呼吸器
agony 　　　　苦痛
glimpse 　　　垣間見る／チラ見
morgue 　　　霊安室／モルグ