Ride-sharing company Uber has been quietly sharing information about its drivers and passengers with health officials for months. Now, the company is promoting this free service around the world to help in COVID-19 contact tracing efforts.
优步汽车共乘公司几个月来一直跟卫生官员偷偷分享有关其驾驶员和乘客的信息。现在，该公司开始在全球范围内推广这种免费服务，以协助新冠肺炎接触者的追踪工作。

Company officials say Uber designed a website where government health agencies can easily search its records. Contact tracers can use the information to try to find people who may have come in contact with an infected individual.
公司官员称优步设计了一个网站，政府卫生机构可以轻松搜索其记录。接触者追踪人员可以利用这些信息查找跟感染者有过接触的人员。

The site is open to health officials in all the countries where Uber operates. The company says contact tracers can get information within a few hours by searching a passenger's name or trip receipts. The site also prompts public health officials to advise Uber on actions it might take based on their findings.
该网站向优步运营国家的卫生官员开放。该公司表示，接触者追踪人员可以在几个小时内通过搜索乘客的姓名或行程单来获取信息。该网站还鼓励公共卫生官员根据其发现给优步提供行动建议。

Health officials and experts say ride-sharing information can find people outside the social contacts reported by infected persons. Though Uber has provided such data for months now, it has not been put to use in many COVID-19 hotspots in the United States.
卫生官员和专家表示，共乘信息可以找出被感染者所报告的社交接触者之外的人员。虽然优步提供这类数据现在已经有几个月时间，但是它尚未在美国很多新冠肺炎热点地区投入使用。

Reuters news agency examined coronavirus contact tracing policies in 32 state and local health departments. It found that most of them did not request data from ride-sharing companies.
路透社对32个州和地方卫生官员的新冠病毒接触者追踪政策进行了审查。调查发现大多数政策都没有要求汽车共乘公司体提供数据。

Unlike many other countries, the United States has no national program to identify the contacts of people with coronavirus infections. The World Health Organization has called such an effort critical in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
跟其它很多国家相比，美国没有找出新冠病毒感染者接触人员的全国性方案。世卫组织称这种措施对于抵抗新冠肺炎大流行至关重要。

The U.S. government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did not answer Reuters' requests for comment.
美国政府旗下的疾病预防控制中心并未回应路透社的置评请求。

Uber has long provided data to U.S. law enforcement officials in emergencies and criminal investigations, companies officials said. Then in 2019, U.S. health departments began seeking company data in an effort to control the disease measles.
公司官员表示，优步在紧急情况和刑事调查中一直向美国执法人员提供数据。然后在2019年，美国卫生部门开始查找公司数据以控制麻疹。

In the first half of 2020, Uber said it received around 560 data requests linked to COVID-19, from public health departments in 29 countries. It reported that each request took about two hours for the company to process. About 30 percent of the requests came from the United States.
优步表示，在2020年上半年，它收到了来自29个国家的卫生部门大约560条跟新冠肺炎相关的数据请求。该公司报告称，公司处理每条请求大约需要2个小时。大约30%的请求来自于美国。

I'm Alice Bryant.
我是爱丽丝·布莱恩特。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，禁止转载，违者必究！)

Ride-sharing company Uber has been quietly sharing information about its drivers and passengers with health officials for months. Now, the company is promoting this free service around the world to help in COVID-19 contact tracing efforts.

Company officials say Uber designed a website where government health agencies can easily search its records. Contact tracers can use the information to try to find people who may have come in contact with an infected individual.

The site is open to health officials in all the countries where Uber operates. The company says contact tracers can get information within a few hours by searching a passenger's name or trip receipts. The site also prompts public health officials to advise Uber on actions it might take based on their findings.

FILE - An Uber sticker is seen on driver Margaret Bordelon's car in Lafayette, Louisiana, U.S. February 16, 2020. (REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare)

Health officials and experts say ride-sharing information can find people outside the social contacts reported by infected persons. Though Uber has provided such data for months now, it has not been put to use in many COVID-19 hotspots in the United States.

Reuters news agency examined coronavirus contact tracing policies in 32 state and local health departments. It found that most of them did not request data from ride-sharing companies.

Unlike many other countries, the United States has no national program to identify the contacts of people with coronavirus infections. The World Health Organization has called such an effort critical in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did not answer Reuters' requests for comment.

Uber has long provided data to U.S. law enforcement officials in emergencies and criminal investigations, companies officials said. Then in 2019, U.S. health departments began seeking company data in an effort to control the disease measles.

In the first half of 2020, Uber said it received around 560 data requests linked to COVID-19, from public health departments in 29 countries. It reported that each request took about two hours for the company to process. About 30 percent of the requests came from the United States.

I'm Alice Bryant.

Reuters news agency reported this story. Alice Bryant adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

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Words in This Story

promote - v. o make people aware of something, such as a new product, through advertising

contact tracing - n. the process of identification of persons who may have come into contact with an infected person

receipt - n. a paper or electronic note on which the things or services that you pay for are listed with the total amount paid and the prices

prompt - v. to cause someone to do something

data - n. facts or information used usually to calculate, analyze, or plan something

hotspot - n. and area of higher incidence of something, such as disease