The number of people falling ill with the vomiting bug norovirus in England this winter is at higher than average levels, figures suggest.
数据显示，今年冬天英格兰因呕吐病毒诺如病毒患病的人数高于平均水平。
Lab testing has revealed there have been 1,704 cases so far - 9% higher than the average seen at this stage in the previous five winters. This will be a fraction of the total number because it only captures people seeking NHS help.
实验室测试显示，迄今为止有1704起病例——比前五个冬季同期所见的平均值高出9％。这个数字只是总数的一部分，因为它只获取了寻求国民医疗服务体系帮助的人数。
But Public Health England warned people not to be alarmed, saying the levels being seen were still within an expected range and it may just be a sign that norovirus is peaking earlier this year than previous ones.
但是英国公共卫生局告诫人们不要担心，并表示可见的水平仍在预期的范围内，这可能只是一个迹象，今年的诺如病毒比前些年更早达到峰值。
Nick Phin, of PHE, said continued outbreaks should be expected. "Norovirus is a common cause of illness during winter. Exactly when the peak occurs will be different each winter, but levels seen so far this year are not unexpected compared with the previous five years."
英国公共卫生局的Nick Phin说，诺如病毒的持续爆发在预料之中。“诺如病毒是冬季疾病的常见病因。每年冬天这一病毒达到峰值的时间会有所不同，但是今年的水平迄今为止与前五年相比并不出乎意料。”
Hospitals declare major alerts
医院发布重要警报
Meanwhile, NHS England has released it first winter statistics of the year.
与此同时，英格兰国民医疗服务体系发布了其今年冬季第一个统计数据。
The figures, which cover the first four days of December, showed eight hospitals declared a major alert - or what used to be known as red and black alerts.
这些数字涵盖了12月前4天的数据，显示有8家医院发布了一项重要警报——或者是以前被称为红色和黑色的警报。
This happens when hospitals have bed shortages, ambulances queuing outside and patients waiting inside A&E.
这种情况在医院床位短缺、救护车在外面排队和病人在急诊室内等待的情况下出现。
To cope, hospitals have to start calling in extra staff, cancelling routine treatments, such as knee and hip operations, and diverting ambulances away from their hospital.
为了应对这些情况，医院必须开始呼叫额外的工作人员，取消常规治疗，如膝盖和髋关节手术，并将救护车从医院转离。
The ultimate step is a full closure of A&E, although none of them took this step.
最终的步骤是完全关闭急诊室，虽然没有人采取这一步。
The long delays patients experience waiting for a bed after emergency admission - had risen five-fold over the past five years.
紧急入院后患者经历等待床位的长时间延迟——在过去五年中增加了五倍。
Currently more than one in 10 patients face a wait of over four hours.
目前，10个患者中就有1个以上面临等待四小时以上的情况。
Source: news.iyuba.com
