September 28-29, 2022

East of Harpers Ferry along the Potomac along official and unofficial trails – Abortions in India – COVID and the World Cup – The lifting of mask recommendations for medical facilities – Evening statistics

Yesterday I went out with RS from Harpers Ferry to George Mill Rd. in Lovettsville, staying close to the river for most of the length of the hike.  The first part, which went along the Appalachian Trail and then via the Loudoun Heights Trail, took place on established and maintained walkways; but the remainder was either on unofficial paths or, on occasion, through thickets that required a bit of bushwhacking.  Officially the Loudoun Heights Trail ends at Split Rock, but there is now a discernable path to its east for most of the way towards a parking area on Rte. 340, close to the intersection with Rte. 671.  It appears to be only a matter of time before this path is cleared entirely and becomes an extension of the trail in its current state.  After arriving at the parking area, we went to the north side of Rte. 340 and adhered quite closely to the river.  Parts of our progress still involved a bit of effort, but many areas have been cleared.  In some cases there was clear evidence of mowing and of removing blow-downs.  Although it was sufficient dry for us to go along Devil’s Elbow, we instead went along a couple of paths that led over the rocks and then back down to the river to enable us to see the state of an alternate route (Devil’s Elbow is unusable when the river’s water level is high, so this alternate route is necessary if there is to be a continuous trail at all.)  All in all it was quite gratifying to see that progress has been made on making the bank of the river east of Harpers Ferry accessible to pedestrians.  Once again, we couldn’t have asked for better weather.  It has been wonderfully mild and sunny for the entire week.

India’s Supreme Court has ruled that all women, regardless of marital status, may have abortions for up to 24 weeks after conception.  It is not a great change – previously married women could have abortions for up to 24 weeks after conception, while single women were limited to 20 weeks after conception – but it shows how we are retrogressing in comparison with other nations that are generally considered more restrictive in their views about women.  The Indian judicial authorities, in all probability, are not to be swayed by the argument that greater access to abortion will reduce the amount of population growth.  The country is currently home to nearly one-and-a-half billion people, more than a sixth part of all of the men and women in the world.  If there is one threat that India does not have to fear, it is depopulation.

It’s easy to forget about COVID amid headlines about various hurricanes, floods, droughts, earthquakes, Trump, and other natural disasters, but it is still making its presence felt.  Attendees to the World Cup in Qatar, for instance, must present proof of a negative COVID test result taken in the 48 hours before arriving in the country.  Players and staff with the 32 World Cup teams will have to take rapid antigen tests every two days in Qatar, as will referees and match officials.  There is no vaccine mandate, as had been originally proposed; but vaccinations are “strongly recommended.”  Qatar has been relatively fortunately in its struggles against the disease – well under a thousand deaths for a nation of nearly three million people.  No doubt this result is due in part to the fact that Qatar’s population is relatively young, but the country has also resorted to rigorous measures to contain the disease:  Qatar was locked down for several months and areas with migrant workers were cut off. Parks, mosques, shops, restaurants, and other establishments were closed for the better part of a year. Starting in mid-May, 2020, face masks became mandatory in public places, and authorities did not hesitate to arrest those who violated the restrictions.  Over 97% of the population in Qatar has received at least one vaccine dose. 

Our own nation is not exercising anything close to the same level of caution.  After Biden said that the pandemic is over, the CDC rescinded its universal masking recommendations for healthcare settings.  Facemasks and air filtration are no longer required in hospitals, nursing homes, medical offices, and so on.  On a personal level, it has often happened that when I now enter a store, I’m the only one wearing a facemask.  The others may do as they please about such matters; over the past two years, cases of influenza and other bronchial diseases have declined significantly, so I will continue to wear masks no matter how often the pandemic is declared to be over.  Incidentally, COVID is still listed as having a state of emergency status and it will retain that status until October 13th at the earliest.

Today’s statistics as of 9:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 622,151,564; # of deaths worldwide: 6,546,316; # of cases U.S.: 98,131,638; # of deaths; U.S.: 1,083,976.  Nearly 30% of Americans have contracted the disease since 2020, according to official statistics; if we factor in the numbers of cases that were uncovered in the privacy of home use of testkits without reporting results of tests that were positive, the percetage of those who were infected is probably significantly higher.