Coronavirus: Long Covid Less Common Than Feared?

The Epoch Times (Sep 17) reports on a long-COVID study from the UK:

The prevalence of so-called “long-COVID” in the UK is less common than previously estimated, official data suggests.

According to an update published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday, only 3 percent of people who tested positive for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus had symptoms lasting more than 12 weeks, “substantially lower” than the ONS’ previous estimation published in April (13.7 percent).

. . . The 12 symptoms that ONS asked about were fever, headache, muscle ache, weakness/tiredness, nausea/vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, sore throat, cough, shortness of breath, loss of taste, and loss of smell.

This is perhaps one of the few positive reports I've read regarding long Covid problems. Yet, is it all good news? Those 12 symptoms seem to exclude lung damage, kidney and heart damage, and brain fog.  

Forbes (Sep 17) mentions that even at this lower number, it means that 1.23 million Americans could be dealing with long-COVID.

Movie Review: Journey to Italy

Journey to Italy stars Ingrid Bergman and George Sanders as a couple (Katherine Joyce and Alex Joyce) on their way to Italy to dispose of a property that was inherited after the death of an uncle. I believe the uncle was Katherine's. The movie starts off with the couple just 100 kilometers from Naples. Katherine is driving while Alex is taking a nap. They're driving in a rather fancy looking car and their cloths look high class (especially Katherine's). When Alex wakes up, he talks about his disappointment in not dealing with a business decision in a better way. Based on this, the immediate impression is that this is a wealthy couple. 

During the drive, they mention the names of two individuals. Initially, I thought it might be their children as they look like a couple who are in their late 30s to 40s, but I later learned that the two individuals mentioned are close friends. Also, they seem rather direct and formal with each other, but considering that they're British it just feels that this might be normal.

They randomly run into some friends at a stop and this is where relational troubles start to arise. While at dinner, the couple are separated at the table and Alex spends time flirting with a female friend. Katherine is very unhappy about this situation. In revenge, she later brings up the fact that while she was dating Alex, a poet friend had tried to pursue her. In fact, she tells Alex, the poet showed up outside her window just before she was to be married. This ploy of hers to make Alex jealous backfires and actually creates a rift between the two. 

As stated in the movie, the two of them had seldom spent time alone as a married couple. Instead, spending time with the two individuals mentioned earlier in the movie. After only a few days alone, they just find they can't get along with each other. In some ways, it is a wonder that they got married in the first place as their personal interests have no real intersection. Katherine finds excitement in visiting museums and historical sites. Alex finds excitement at bars and interactions with people. The wedge between them sends him looking into the possibility of having an affair.

As the wedge between them seems more like two roads diverging, Alex proposes that they just get a divorce. And yet, as the movie comes to a conclusion, Katherine finds herself separated from Alex during a religious town ceremony. She doesn't appear to be in any real danger so it seems more like she finds herself just not wanting to be separated from Alex. She calls out to him and he goes towards her. It is there that they realize that they do truly love each other.

The movie takes a glimpse into the life of a couple over a short period of time. One can see how this movie may have influenced Audrey Hepburn's "Two for the Road." That movie also deals with a well to do couple who are having relationship troubles that arise while they are on a trip. Is there potentially a hint that vacations cause family problems to arise? Actually, that can probably be seen in plenty of movies and in personal lives in general. Perhaps it even had an influence on a 1990s art movie called "Enchanted April."

I did enjoy the low key style of the movie and how it explored how a moment in time caused a relationship to rapidly fall apart. Yet, I question the happy ending of the movie. Was this a couple who really were in love? They just seem to have such diverse interests. Of course, maybe those interests only came to the surface due to the fact that they had plenty of free time. Perhaps one of the subtle points of the movie is that relationships aren't just built based on the two couples, but by the community and general time consuming moments that surrounds them -- be it the two friends that were missing or the work that occupied Alex's time.

The movie was initially released as "Viaggio in Italia," which explains the movie poster.

Corporations Continue to Leave California

I like to keep an eye on corporations that are leaving California. 

San Francisco Gate (Aug 31) took a look at this subject a few months back:

If the pace keeps up, the number will double what it was last year, according to the report from Stanford's Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank. So far, its data shows that 74 companies have already moved their headquarters to other states in 2021, surpassing the half-year average for 2019 and 2018. It's also more than the number of companies that moved away in all of 2020.

Social Security Running Out of Funds Due to Covid-19?

Washington Post (Aug 31) has the following about Social Security:

The federal government expects U.S. mortality rates to be elevated by 15% over pre-pandemic norms in 2021 and not return to normal levels until 2023, according to a report released Tuesday by the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare programs.

The trustees concluded that these elevated mortality rates, along with lower immigration and depressed fertility rates, have had a significant effect on the trust funds supporting both programs in the short term. But the virus' long-term effects on America's retirement and healthcare systems remain unclear, as the pandemic still appears far from over.