PHTA meeting – The Ukrainian invasion worsens – COVID declines; mask mandates diminish – Evening statistics
I met with the Potomac Heritage Trail Association today. It is one of the few live meetings I’ve attended since the pandemic began. We convened at the PATC headquarters in Vienna, which is about six miles from my house. Since my car has been having some difficulties I had to leave it at the auto dealer’s to fix it and I went there by foot, both coming and going, so that I may claim that I have not eaten the bread of idleness today. The meeting itself had some interesting features. WN, the chairman, informed us about a study that has been done by the Northern Virginia Regional Commission Economic Benefits Study, which concluded that a system of hiking trails provides benefits in the form of reduced health costs (as a result of people getting more exercise and being more of doors more frequently) and increased employment amounting to $490 million per year. This finding, obviously, will be of some use in helping to persuade state and county officials to support our efforts to connect the trails with one another.
Ironically, the further one gets from the city the less supportive such officials tend to be. One issue that the PHTA is grappling with is the Nice Memorial Bridge that connects Rte. 301 in King George County, VA, to Newburg in Charles County, MD, about 50 miles south of the Beltway. It has no facilities for pedestrians and is not likely to get any. The bridge is not heavily used by commuters, since neither King George County nor Charles County provides much in the way of employment; the Morgantown Generating Station, which is the main source of employment in Newburg, is being phased out and will be completely inactive by 2027. The trail system at this point includes one that goes through Dahlgren, but it will take some doing to connect it to any point on the Maryland shore.
The Russian invasion gets uglier and uglier. Currently one of the reactions of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant near Kyiv – the largest one in Europe – is on fire as a result of Russian shelling. Firefighters cannot access it because they are being shot at. In addition, many towns and cities along Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia have been reduced to rubble by Russian forces. Both Kyiv and Kharkiv, the biggest cities of the country, have been bombarded relentlessly with missiles and artillery shells. Russia has made important strategic gains in recent days across southern Ukraine’s Black Sea coast. Securing the south would cut off the Ukrainian government’s access to vital ports and could allow Russia to bring troops and supplies in by sea.
Does anyone remember when COVID dominated the headlines? It’s still around, even if the turmoil in Europe has diverted everyone’s attention. At this point less than 10% of the population lives in areas where facemasks are recommended when indoors in public places. Masks are still required for planes, trains, and buses. This requirement will expire on the 18th; it is not yet known whether the CDC will extend it. Hospitalizations are down 77% from the peak level during the omicron wave. About 35,000 people were hospitalized with COVID today, down from nearly 153,000 on Jan. 20th.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 441,809,948; # of deaths worldwide: 6,000,648; # of cases U.S.: 80,841,877; # of deaths; U.S.: 981,720.