分享《经济学人》最新一期中的一篇文章。标题是《纽约市一家新冠主题商店生意红火》。
导 读
往年，纽约市民会在圣诞长袜里找到耳机或羊毛袜。幸运者可能会得到百老汇表演门票。今年则不一样，最受欢迎的圣诞礼物可能是便携式紫外线杀菌棒。美国疫情肆虐，使得防疫产品大受欢迎。纽约开了一家专门出售预防冠状病毒产品的商店，店名是CV19 Essential。
圣诞节快到了，纽约市显得有些冷清，大多数上班族在家工作，游客不见踪影，餐馆又关门了。与此同时，该市感染者数量急剧增加，自11月初以来增加了两倍多。由于防疫需求增加，CV19 Essential商店生意红火，老板又开了两家分店。
随着疫苗的推广使用，疫情必然会逐渐缓解，防疫商店生意不会一直好下去。那些杀菌棒也会和其他圣诞礼物一样，被人遗忘在抽屉一角。
单 词
covid-19 新型冠狀病毒肺炎
-themed 特定主题的
bonanza 兴盛；繁荣
lucky duck 幸运的人
portable 便携式的；手提的；轻便的
ultraviolet 紫外线的
handy 方便的；手边的；便利的
cross (between A and B) 混合物；（动物等的）杂种，杂交品种
pandemic （全国或全球性）流行病；大流行病
disposable 用后即丢弃的；一次性的
gadget 小工具；小玩意；小配件
touchless 无触觉的；非接触的
intubation 插管法；气管内插管；
footfall 客流量
thermal 热的；热量的
boutique 精品店；时装店
prepping 预备；把…准备好；为（患者）做手术前准备
brisk 快的；敏捷的；忙碌的
borough 自治镇；享有自治权的市镇或区
roll-out 滚出；离开；展开
原 文
A covid-19-themed shop in New York is thriving
A different sort of Christmas shopping bonanza
LAST YEAR New Yorkers might have found a pair of headphones or perhaps some woolly socks in their Christmas stockings. Some lucky ducks might have found tickets to a Broadway show. This year’s most popular stocking-stuffer may be the portable ultraviolet-light sanitiser wand, which comes with a handy bag. It is one of the big sellers, says Valerie Zirema, who works in CV19 Essential, New York City’s first dedicated coronavirus-prevention shop.
The urban-survivalist shop, near Macy’s department store, looks like a cross between an Apple Store and a pharmacy. It has everything a tech-minded, fashion-conscious New Yorker could want to navigate a pandemic. Disposable masks in fun patterns and colours are especially popular. “People want fashion and function,” says Benjamin Hu, the shop’s manager. And they love the gadgets, many of them touchless technology. As well as cheaper goodies like the masks and UV wands, the shop also sells a $10,000 system which scans people’s temperature as they enter a shop. Another device can detect if someone is not wearing a mask and sound an alarm.
Midtown Manhattan is quiet now. Most office workers are working from home and tourists have disappeared. The city has seen an alarming jump in covid-19 cases, which have more than tripled since the start of November. Hospitalisations and intubations are increasing, too. Restaurants have closed their dining rooms again. On December 14th Bill de Blasio, the city’s mayor, warned New Yorkers “to be ready now for a full shutdown, a pause like we had back at the end of the spring”. But the covid-19 shop, which also provides rapid testing and PCR testing for the virus, is seeing an increase in footfall.
CV19 Essential was founded by Tony Park, the owner of Samwon Garden, a Korean BBQ restaurant. After he fitted it out with UV light systems, anti-microbial film and a facial thermal scanner, other firms came looking for advice. Seeing a business opportunity, in September Mr Park opened his first covid-19 shop in a space where he originally intended to have another restaurant. He has since opened a second branch.
Opening safety boutiques and testing centres geared towards anxious New Yorkers is clever. “I like to think people are taking [prepping] more seriously,” says Jason Charles, head of the New York City Prepper’s Network, a survivalist group, who has seen more interest in his talks. Yet with luck business may not be brisk for long. On December 14th, even as New York prepared to shut down again, health-care workers began administering the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in the borough of Queens. If the roll-out goes to plan, those sanitising wands might soon end up in a drawer, along with other forgotten gifts.
往期回顾
疫情重创日本旅游
北海道疫情卷土重来
象牙海岸的致命鳄鱼
澳大利亚袋鼠之殇
中国“打卡式旅游”
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