Sun-shy Indonesians Are Suddenly Soaking up the Rays
讨厌阳光的印尼人突然晒起了太阳
The belief that sunlight kills the coronavirus is widespread
人们普遍相信，阳光能够消灭新冠病毒
Farah Reynaldi loathes the sun. Yet for the past month, the 19-year-old law student has been soaking up the rays several mornings a week. At the behest of her father, she takes off her hijab, puts on a T-shirt and shorts, and sweats on the balcony for about half an hour.
法拉赫·雷纳德讨厌阳光。但在过去的一个月里，这名19岁的法律系学生每周都会抽出几天沐浴在清晨的阳光下。在她父亲的要求下，她摘掉了头巾，穿上了短袖和短裤，在阳台上挥洒汗水半小时。
She is not alone. Over the past month or two, Indonesians have begun sunbathing en masse. Bare-chested soldiers and police officers prostrate themselves before the sun every morning.
并不只有她这样做。在过去的一两个月里，印尼人开始集体晒太阳。每天早晨，赤膊上阵的士兵和警察都会俯卧在地上，沐浴着阳光。
Residents of a slum abutting a metro line in Jakarta, the capital, drape themselves across the train tracks. So many people have suddenly started basking in the tropical glare that the government has begun extolling sun cream and warning about the risks of skin cancer.
在首都雅加达紧邻地铁线的一处贫民窟，居民们纷纷躺在铁轨上晒太阳。这么多人突然沐浴在热带气候的炎炎烈日下，以至于政府开始鼓励人们涂抹防晒霜，并警惕患皮肤癌的风险。
Indonesian culture normally prizes pale skin, which is regarded as beautiful, says L. Ayu Saraswati, the author of “Putih” (White), a book about Indonesian attitudes to skin colour. Many Indonesian women use skin-whitening products.
《白色》（一本关于印尼人对肤色态度的书）一书的作者阿尤·萨拉斯瓦蒂说道，印尼文化素来崇尚白皙的皮肤，以肤白为美。许多印尼女性会使用美白产品。
Indonesia is home to the world’s largest population of Muslims; the pious among them do not feel comfortable baring much skin. Most Indonesians would never dream of tanning. Yet they are willing to risk a darker shade now because they believe sunlight helps to fend off covid-19.
印尼是世界上穆斯林人口最多的国家，虔诚的信徒是不愿将皮肤暴露在外的。大多数印尼人从来没有想过要晒黑。然而，如今他们之所以甘愿晒黑是因为他们相信阳光能够让他们免于感染新冠肺炎。
There are two reasons for this belief, one more scientific than the other. Sunlight does stimulate the body to produce vitamin D, which in turn boosts the immune system, notes Madarina Julia of Gadjah Mada University. This is why Dr Andi Khomeini Takdir of Cipto Mangunkusomo National General Hospital in Jakarta encourages his patients to sunbathe for 10-15 minutes every day.
他们之所以会形成这种观念，原因有两点，其中一点还算科学。加札马达大学的马达琳娜·茱莉亚指出，阳光确实能够促进维生素D的合成，从而增强机体免疫力。这也正是雅加达西普托·曼古索莫国立综合医院的安迪·霍梅尼·塔克迪尔医生鼓励他的病人每天沐浴阳光10—15分钟的原因。
But many Indonesians believe that exposure to the sun also kills the virus in itself – an idea for which there is no scientific evidence. A woman spotted by the Jakarta Globe in early April shouted, “Die, you virus! Go away, corona!” as she exercised in the morning light. As Ms Reynaldi puts it, “If you’re not sunbathing, then you’re not preventing covid right.”
但许多印尼人持有一种没有科学依据的观点，他们认为沐浴在阳光下能够杀死新冠病毒。今年4月初，《雅加达环球报》报道了一名女子，她一边沐浴在清晨的阳光中，一边喊道：“去死吧，你这个病毒！离我远点，新冠病毒！”正如雷纳德所言：“如果不晒太阳，你就没办法彻底阻止新冠肺炎的传播。”
The idea that the sun can zap the virus has been endorsed by prominent politicians. Tito Karnavian, the home-affairs minister, said in March that covid-19 cannot spread in a tropical climate like Indonesia’s, and invited the public to snuff out the disease by sunbathing.
阳光消灭病毒的观点甚至得到了许多杰出政治家的认同。今年3月，印尼内政部长蒂托·卡纳维安表示，新冠肺炎不会在印尼这样的热带气候中传播，他还呼吁民众通过晒太阳来消灭病毒。
The number of confirmed cases in the country has since risen to more than 12,000. Perhaps the minister should have read the WHO’s covid-19 myth-busters website, which states, “Exposing yourself to the sun or to temperatures higher than 25°C DOES NOT prevent covid-19.”
如今，印尼新冠肺炎的累计确诊病例已经增长至1.2万例。或许这位部长应该去世卫组织的新冠肺炎谣言终结者网站上看看，网站上指出：“晒太阳或者置身于25°C以上的环境并不能阻止病毒的传播。”
英文、中文版本下载：http://www.yingyushijie.com/shop/source/detail/id/2315.html