Morning statistics – Local hiking – Effects of virus on Farmers’ Markets – Dinner at home – The new Press Secretary – Decrease in car crashes and accident fatalities – Protests in Lansing – Michigan’s high mortality rate – Evening statistics
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 AM — # of cases worldwide: 3,422,291; # of deaths worldwide: 240,334; # of cases U.S.: 1,131,856; # of deaths U.S.: 65,782. The websites supplying the data duly note that the following territories have no active cases of the virus at this point: Anguilla (population 17,400), St. Barthélemy (population 10,000), Greenland (population 55,500), and the Falkland Islands (population 4,000). But these are so isolated and have such tiny populations that they are insignificant statistically. More significant are countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and New Zealand. Vietnam in particular has had no deaths from the virus to date and only eight cases still active. The CDC has double-checked the data coming from Hanoi and has confirmed its validity. Vietnam’s measures have been very pro-active: banning of domestic flights in late March, a lockdown that began on April 1st and is continuing, 791 people tested for every single confirmed case (one of the highest ratios of any country, perhaps the highest).
The weather has been wet this past week, and even when it has not been raining the sky for the most part was dark and overcast. But today the “busy old fool, unruly sun” was displayed in a cerulean sky amid pale cumulus clouds as dainty in appearance as puff pastry; hence it was only natural that I spent most of the day outside. I had no wish to drive in a car, so I simply set forth from my house, walked to Miller Heights, went along the Cross County Trail to Reston where it intersected the W&OD Trail, followed the W&OD Trail to Vienna, meandered along the streets to the Vienna Metro Station, and from there walked home – about 23 miles in all and, perhaps, with all of the little ups and downs taken into account, about 1000 feet elevation gain. During this journey I passed the area where normally the first Farmer’s Market of the year would be held, close to the courthouse; but of course it was silent and empty. Will Farmer’s Markets generally be a casualty of this crisis? The marketers will lose at least six weeks of the season, which is from May to October. Along the CCT I skirted by several great concentrations of broad-leaf plantain, which I had not noticed before, even though I’ve been on the trail at least a dozen times. It was muddy in many areas, but that was only to be expected after the amount of rain we had earlier. We are now in the middle of spring; the leaves no longer possess the diaphanous quality that characterizes their initial appearance, and as a result the depths of the forest are darker and shadier. At Vienna I went around the Whole Foods store, with a vague idea of going in and pursuing a fast snack or two, but that idea had to be quickly abandoned; there was a long line of customers waiting patiently on the sidewalk leading to the store. When I arrived at home I was rather tired, of course, but I was also hungry and so I lost little time in preparing dinner: broiled salmon, rice seasoned with various herbs, zucchini stir-fried with garlic, and fresh pineapple for dessert. It was a simple enough meal and took little time to prepare, but I could not help reflecting that I was eating a better meal than was available to people living in neighborhoods less plentifully stocked with food stores than mine is.
Such was my day; what has been going on in the nation at large?
Kayleigh McEnany has been appointed as Trump’s new press secretary and she held a formal briefing with reporters, the first time in over a year that that has happened. During this exchange she said that “I will never lie to you, you have my word on that” to her auditors. I doubt if the reporters were greatly reassured – what is to prevent that statement in itself to be a lie? And the fact that she feels compelled to give such a reassurance speaks volumes about how reporters were treated by the administration in the past. She may, perhaps, be quite well-meaning, but she will have her work cut out for her, trying to relay information from an administration that habitually deals in equivocations, half-truths, and outright falsehoods.
Car crashes, and fatal ones in particular, have decreased dramatically as a result of the lockdown measures. In California the number of deaths on the freeways has decreased by a startling 84%. New York City has not had a single pedestrian death in 46 days – which has never been heard of before.
Carmen Gentile, a reporter who has covered military war zones such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Haiti, is currently on the scene at Lansing, MI, and he says that he is more frightened now than he has been on any other assignment. Armed protestors are not only calling for the end of a lockdown but for the imprisonment of the state governor, although she has been elected by due process and has not broken any law. Several of the lawmakers are so fearful for their lives that they have donned bullet-proof vests to protect themselves. Comparisons with Germany before WWII are easy to make, but this state of affairs does bear some resemblance to the conditions that enabled Hitler to make his putsch.
Michigan, incidentally, has the highest death rate from the disease of any state. The number of fatalities from the virus now stands at 9.13%, whereas the national average is 5.8%. Most of the fatalities occur in Detroit and the surrounding counties, which should come as a surprise to no one.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM — # of cases worldwide: 3,479,521; # of deaths worldwide: 244,581; # of cases U.S.: 1,159,430; # of deaths U.S.: 67,391. We have had 28,400 new cases and 1,638 more deaths in the course of a day.