每日新闻播报（December 4）

>Step up COVID precautions
教育部:高校错峰放寒假
Universities in China should make sure departures of students heading home for winter vacation are staggered and make proper arrangements for those staying on campus amid increasing risks of COVID-19 cluster infections, the Ministry of Education said on Tuesday.
教育部12月1日表示，今冬明春发生局部聚集性疫情风险加大，高校放寒假要坚持"错峰"原则，安排学生分批次有序离校，妥善安排留校师生寒假生活。
There have been confirmed COVID-19 cases in multiple regions on the Chinese mainland in the past month.
过去一个月，国内多地出现新冠肺炎确诊病例。
Local education authorities, universities and schools should realize that this winter and next spring are critical in pandemic prevention and control, and they should strictly implement containment measures, the ministry said in a notice.
教育部在一则通知中表示，各地教育部门、各高校和中小学校要深刻认识今冬明春是疫情防控关键时期，要严格落实校园疫情防控措施。
They should strengthen management of events involving large gatherings of people and sanitize important locations such as classrooms, canteens and dormitories to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, the notice said.
要加强聚集性活动管理，做好教室、食堂、宿舍等重点场所卫生管理，防范新冠肺炎疫情与其他传染病。
They should also actively prevent the virus from spreading through cold-chain food by offering strict training to staff members responsible for purchasing food and conducting emergency drills, it said.
通知要求，要主动防范新冠肺炎疫情通过进口冷链食品输入风险，严格做好食品采购人员防护，强化应急演练。
Schools and universities should also make early preparations for the spring semester, it added.
通知还要求各校及早谋划2021年春季学期开学工作。

>Fewer days of air pollution
空气重污染同比减50%
People in China have seen fewer days with air pollution compared with last year, thanks to the wider promotion of clean energy and reduction in polluting emissions, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said on Monday.
生态环境部11月30日表示，由于清洁能源的广泛推广和污染排放的减少，我国的空气污染天数比2019年同期减少。
Data from the ministry showed that both the frequency and intensity of air pollution have decreased this year.
生态环境部的数据显示，污染过程的次数和污染程度均比去年有所下降。
On polluted days since fall, the average density of PM2.5 dropped by 8.2% from last year, to 167 micrograms per cubic meter.
今年进入秋冬季以来，几次污染过程PM2.5日均值的峰值浓度平均值为167微克/立方米，比去年下降8.2%。
Between Oct 1 and Nov 26, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cluster and surrounding areas experienced 17.4% fewer polluted days than during the same period last year, the ministry said.
10月1日至11月26日，京津冀及周边地区轻度及以上污染的天数比2019年同期减少17.4%。
Ministry spokesman Liu Youbin said heavy pollution was also largely reduced.
生态环境部新闻发言人刘友宾表示，空气达到重度污染过程较去年次数大幅减少，程度减轻。
Since fall started, China has experienced two rounds of heavy pollution, a 50% reduction year-on-year.
今年秋冬季以来只有2次是重污染过程，次数比去年同期减少了50%。

>Arecibo Observatory collapses
美阿雷西博望远镜坍塌
The instrument platform of the 305-meter telescope at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico collapsed overnight, according to the National Science Foundation.
美国国家科学基金会确认，位于波多黎各的阿雷西博望远镜的设备平台坍塌。阿雷西博望远镜口径305米，是地球上最强大的望远镜之一，坍塌是对它的最后一击。
It's a final blow to one of the most powerful telescopes on Earth that has aided astronomical discoveries for 57 years and withstood hurricanes, earthquakes and tropical storms.
工作57年来，阿雷西博望远镜为众多天文发现提供了帮助，并经受住了飓风、地震和热带风暴的考验。
Engineers assessed the damage and determined that all three of the telescope's support towers broke off, sending the 900-ton instrument platform plummeting down to the dish below.
工程师已评估了损坏情况，确定望远镜的三个支撑塔全部断裂，重达900吨的设备平台坠落到下面的碟形反射盘上。
The telescope's support cables also dropped.
此外，望远镜的支撑钢缆也已断裂。
The collapse occurred just weeks after NSF announced that the telescope would be decommissioned and disassembled through a controlled demolition after sustaining irreparable damage earlier this year.
几周前，美国国家科学基金会宣布，阿雷西博望远镜在今年早些时候遭受了无法修补的损毁，将被关闭并以可控方式拆除。

>UK approves Pfizer vaccine
英国批准辉瑞新冠疫苗
Britain has become the first country in the West to approve a COVID-19 vaccine for public use.
英国成为首个批准新冠疫苗供民众使用的西方国家。
The UK Department of Health and Social Care confirmed in a statement to British news agencies that the vaccine developed jointly by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech would be distributed starting next week.
英国卫生和社会保健部在一份发给英国媒体的声明中证实，美国制药商辉瑞和德国生物新技术公司联合研制的新冠疫苗将从下周起开始发放。
Pfizer was the first of three major Western pharmaceutical companies to apply in both the US and Europe for emergency use authorization.
辉瑞是三家大型西方制药公司中首个在美国和欧洲同时申请紧急使用授权的公司。
In line with planning in the US, British front-line healthcare workers, care home residents, the very elderly and people with underlying conditions that make them particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 complications are expected to get the first doses of the vaccine.
同美国的计划一样，英国一线的医护人员、养老院居民、高龄老人和特别容易发生新冠肺炎并发症的基础病患者将优先接种新冠疫苗。
Pfizer's vaccine, like the Oxford and Moderna formulas, requires two doses about a month apart. 辉瑞疫苗和牛津、莫德纳的疫苗一样，都需要接种两剂，间隔时间一个月。
Matt Hancock, Britain's top public health official, noted the logistical complexities of distributing the Pfizer vaccine, which needs to be stored at around -94 degrees Fahrenheit, but said Britain would get its first 800,000 doses delivered next week.
英国卫生部部长汉考克指出了发放辉瑞疫苗在物流传输上的复杂性，该疫苗需要在零下94华氏度(零下70摄氏度)的温度条件下储存，但他表示下周第一批疫苗共80万剂将运送到英国。
The UK has a total of 40 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine on order, enough to fully treat 20 million people.
英国共下单了4000万剂辉瑞疫苗，足以让2000万人接种。

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