[250] Florida and other Sun Belt states become COVID-19 hotspots

Travel News

Florida and other Sun Belt states become COVID-19 hotspots

The U.S. state of Florida registered 12,000 new cases of COVID-19 infection in just one day on July 19, 2020. Florida’s population is roughly 21,500,000. According to a recent article in the Washington Post, epidemiologists are warning of a “reverse Summer effect” where residents of hot states such as Florida, Texas, Arizona and southern California spend more time indoors and become infected as the virus circulates in air conditioning systems.
Meanwhile, U.S. president Donald Trump said in a recent interview that the COVID-19 virus would “disappear.” He said “It’s going to disappear and I’ll be right.”

Sun Belt: The U.S. states with warm climate in the South: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California.
Hotspot: an area of high activity, or a link area, such as a “WiFi hotspot” or a “virus hotspot.”

This Week’s Natural Phrase

too little, too late

Oliver: Did you pass your exam for the health center safety certificate?

Emily: No, I was working on other projects until one week before the exam. Finally, just a few days before the exam, I sat down to concentrate on studying. But it was too little, too late. My score was too low, so I will have to take the exam again next semester.

The phrase “too little, too late” means that the effort was not enough for finishing the task.

This Week’s Medical Phrase

false positive

Doctor Wei: Even though you feel fine, your blood test shows that you have contracted the COVID-19 virus.

Edward: What? But I don’t have any symptoms – no fever, no respiratory trouble. Are you sure that the test is correct?

Doctor Wei: There is about a 2% possibility that the result is a false positive. Let’s take another swab sample from your sinuses and then run the test a second time. Please stay at home until the second test results come back from the lab.

Explanation: The term “false positive” means that the test results indicate a positive result when the patient does not have the condition. In simple English, it means that the laboratory result is wrong. It is also possible to have a “false negative” result.

MEMO
false positive: 偽陽性

This Week’s Business/Email Phrase

rollback

The government allowed us to open our business to customers in June, but then the COVID-19 cases spiked again. Now there are news reports that there will be a rollback of the business openings. We might have to close our doors again until the virus crisis is over.

Explanation: The term “rollback” means that a decision will slowly be moved back to the previous situation. The decision will be reversed.

MEMO
rollback: 巻き返し