Another club-like hike – Portugal’s new bridge for pedestrians – Mounting crisis in India – Evening statistics
I met with various Wanderbirds members to take a hike led by PE in the Patuxent River Park. This park borders Jug Bay on the Patuxent River and contains a network of trails that cross along the marshy area adjacent to the little bay – although the trails themselves, it must be noted, are not at all muddy and are in fact extremely well-maintained. Although the hike was eight miles, similar in length to the one I led yesterday, it presented quite a contrast in other respects. The trails of the Massanutten area are almost uniformly rocky, and the ascent to Sherman Gap was long and steep. Today we had little elevation gain (about 500 feet in all, upon short, gentle hillsides) and there were scarcely any rocks on the trail at all. The hike offered as much to the ear as it did to the eye; numerous birds of many different species were uttering their characteristic calls. PE has considerable ornithological knowledge and was able to identify the birds by their individual songs. And afterwards we had lunch together in the parking area, feasting on various contributions, mainly from PE and AD, such as drinks, cut vegetables, hummus, fruit, and so on. It was very reminiscent of the post-hike festivities of the Wanderbirds. FH, with whom I carpooled yesterday, was one of the participants and we agreed that this hike was a good way to wind down from the exertions of the preceding day.
The Arouca Bridge, the world’s longest pedestrian bridge, has been formally inaugurated today. It is a suspension bridge about 1/3 mile long, spanning the Paiva River in Portugal Children under age 6 are not allowed on it and all visits must be accompanied by guides. The cost is 10-12 euros and passage across the bridge must be booked via a local website. The river flows about 575 feet below the metal walkway, so it is not for the faint-hearted.
India is now facing a grim choice. Its government has been reluctant to initiate a complete lockdown, although several individual states – such as Odisha, Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka and West Bengal – have lockdowns of their own and others, such as Uttar Pradesh, have night curfews or weekend lockdowns. India has already endured a 68-day lockdown last year, which resulted in millions of migrant workers unemployed and running out of money, while many of the poorest citizens, especially undernourished children and pregnant women who rely on government programs, struggled to access benefits. Immunization programs came to a halt during this period, and those suffering from serious illnesses (including those other than COVID) had difficulty in accessing crucial health services. The government’s reluctance to repeat this experience is understandable, but it may have no alternative. The country’s case count is now well over 19 million, while the official death toll is over 215,000; in all probability the actual number is much higher. Case rates are projected to continue rising for the next two weeks at a minimum, and the daily death toll may come to exceed 13,000. Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 153,467,820; # of deaths worldwide: 3,215,537; # of cases U.S.: 33,179,285; # of deaths; U.S.: 591,056. Today’s daily U.S. case increase is 4.4% of the global total and its death toll is 3.3% of the global total, the first time that they are proportionate to our population in relation to that of the world at large since I can remember. Part of the reason, of course, is that the case increase and death count in India are now so high. It is also true, however, that these increases are the lowest that we’ve seen for several months.