On the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania – Under-reported deaths in Russia – Troubling news from India – Evening statistics
After a rainstorm on a warm day like the one we had last evening, there are two possible outcomes: the rain’s passing through can either clear the air of humidity or reinforce it. We enjoyed the first of these today. Even though today was warm, it was significantly less humid. In addition, I spent the day hiking in Pennsylvania; the combination of higher altitudes and dense shade managed to keep the temperature down to less than 80 degrees. I needed much less water than I did on Tuesday. I was on the Appalachian Trail again, starting from Rte. 325 (Clark Valley) and going to the Cold Spring trailhead and back: about 9 miles each way, or 18 miles total, with 1500 feet elevation gain. In truth it is not the most entrancing section of the trail. It has only minor ups and downs after the first climb up Sharp Mountain, but much of this segment is quite rocky and in addition it is close to Lancaster Airport, where planes were continually emerging to fly overhead. Still, there were numerous sections bordered by mountain laurel bushes in full bloom and fresh breezes were blowing for most of the day, which replenished my energy when I began to flag.
The case count in Russia has surpassed 500,000 today. Its official mortality rate is just over 1%, but data released by Moscow healthcare officials indicate that the figure is much higher in reality. Moscow has had nearly 5,800 “excess deaths” for the month of May, i.e., deaths over and above the projected number based on data of deaths in Moscow during the month of May during previous years. The officials believe that 5,260 of these are related to the virus, even though the figure given out by the government is only 1,895. If this pattern is similar in other regions of the country, the death toll from the virus is being under-reported by a factor of nearly three.
India’s case count is steadily rising. It has the highest count after the U.S., Brazil, and Russia. Nearly a fifth of these have occurred in Mumbai, India’s wealthiest city – about 50,000, which is greater than that of Wuhan. Maharashtra state, home to Mumbai, has confirmed more cases than the whole of China. Part of the issue is that, while it may be wealthy, its wealth is concentrated in the hands of a relatively small number of people. Up to 60% of the city’s population live in the slums with little water or sanitation. India is currently relaxing its lockdown restrictions, so it remains to be seen whether or not there will be a second surge of the virus there.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM — # of cases worldwide: 7,583,521; # of deaths worldwide: 423,082; # of cases U.S.: 2,089,402; # of deaths U.S.: 116,029. Bad as our totals are, Brazil is still worse. It is steadily catching up to the U.S. Already its case count is nearly 40% of ours; it had only 20% of ours less than four weeks ago.