Hiking in the G. Richard Thompson Wildlife Management area – Mask wearing in abeyance locally – Request for mask wearing in Los Angeles – Evening statistics
Today was warmer and more humid than yesterday, but nonetheless a group of us hiked in the G. Richard Thompson Wildlife Management area. We went from the Upper Ted Lake parking area via the Trillium Trail to the Appalachian Trail up to the Trico Tower Trail, and then we went up to the tower. It was about 6½ miles in all. There are, of course, no trilliums in bloom at this time of the year, but the area is rich in wildflowers even at this season and we saw numerous phlox and tiger lilies. And afterwards we went to the Fox Meadow winery nearby, enjoying a leisurely lunch at one of the picnic tables; the winery has customers bringing their own food eat outside of their main building, but we wished to be outside in any case, and the sun umbrella attached to the table, as well as some cloud cover that moved in, greatly mitigated any glare from the sun. It was a great pleasure to eat on the lawn with a vista of mountain ranges before us, all covered with the rich green foliage of the season.
At the winery itself, customers and staff alike were not wearing masks. When I returned from the winery and went to a grocery store most of the customers were likewise without masks. A few customers and one or two staff members were wearing masks, but they were in a minority. At this point 62.1% of adults in the state are fully vaccinated and 71.5% have received at least one dose. This does not quite meet the criteria of so-called “herd immunity” but it is close enough to make people confident – particularly in the counties close to DC, where the average amount of adults who have received at least one dose is close to three-quarters. This relaxed attitude is typical of most of the country but there are exceptions.
The Los Angeles County health officials have requested residents – even vaccinated ones – to wear masks in public places. About 51% of the county residents are fully vaccinated, which is considerably lower than the percentage of residents in other populous counties in California such as San Francisco and Santa Clara (68% and 66% respectively). The recent spike in cases as a result of the Delta variant has prompted this concern. Hospitalizations had hit a record low on June 12, but since that time there has been a 30% increase of patients. “The data is clear, said Dr. Mark Ghaly, California Health and Human Services Secretary. “Nearly all new COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths are preventable.” Of the fatalities that have occurred in the nation since December, 99.8% were unvaccinated.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 184,909,389; # of deaths worldwide: 4,000,177; # of cases U.S.: 34,598,307; # of deaths; U.S.: 621,335.