thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-22--Seven Things You Need To Know About Coronavirus Today

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The state of Missouri is suing the Chinese government, an RAF plane loaded with PPE has finally returned to the UK from Turkey, and temperatures of 24C are expected in UK in the coming days.
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According to the latest figures:
The number of people who have died in hospitals in the UK has risen by 759 in 24 hours, bringing the total to 18,100.
The number of people who have tested positive in the UK reached 133,495.
22,814 tests were carried out on Tuesday, with the government under pressure to reach its target of 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of April.
Statista
Here are the latest developments on Covid-19:
Chris Whitty: ‘Return to normal life in 2020 is wholly unrealistic’
Chief medical officer Chris Whitty during a media briefing in Downing Street PA Video - PA Images via Getty Images
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Chris Whitty said the chances of either a vaccine or effective treatment being available in this “calendar year” were “incredibly small”.
And so the government’s effort must be focused on keeping the infection, or R, rate below one so that each person infected with Covid-19 passes it on to less than one other person on average.
A failure to do this could see the NHS overwhelmed and so there is only a “narrow” range of options available to ministers when considering how to ease the current lockdown, which will be reviewed again on May 7.
These include measures to balance Covid-19 deaths against deaths from other causes because the NHS is focusing on the virus, as well as analysing whether lockdowns can damage people’s mental and physical health, and whether the economic impact can also shorten lives.
Whitty told the daily Downing Street briefing: “This disease is not going to be eradicated, it is not going to disappear.
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“We have to accept that we are working with a disease that we are going to be with globally for the foreseeable future.”
He added: “If people are hoping it’s going to suddenly move from where we are now in lockdown suddenly into everything’s gone, that is a wholly unrealistic expectation.
“We are going to have to do a lot of things for really quite a long period of time, the question is what is the best package.”
Tesco to start testing shop workers for coronavirus
Customers queuing two metres apart outside the Tesco Express store on Tottenham Court Road, London EMPICS Entertainment
Tesco has said its shop workers will start receiving coronavirus tests this week as the government ramps up its testing efforts.
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In a letter to customers, chief executive Dave Lewis said Tesco will begin to trial testing for its workers in one region of the UK.
It is understood the voluntary testing will be available for around 200 staff and comes after talks between supermarket bosses and the government.
The supermarket added that the testing will only be “for critical workers currently experiencing symptoms or for those with symptoms who are living with critical workers”.
Tesco said that around 41,000 of its staff are absent each day, with the figure steadily falling.
It said it has recruited 50,000 temporary workers to plug the gap and keep operations running in recent weeks.
UK ‘at the peak’ of outbreak, says Matt Hancock
Health secretary Matt Hancock said today the UK was “at the peak” of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Speaking in the Commons during PMQs on Wednesday, he added: “I just want to thank everyone from across the country for their steadfast commitment in following the rules, including in this House.”
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If Hancock is correct, then cases of coronavirus can be expected to keep dropping, although deaths – which lag behind new infections as it takes time for people to get progressively sicker after infection – may still rise.
Reaching the peak is a milestone in the fight against the pandemic but is far from the end of the crisis.
Hancock went on to say the “test, track and trace” approach is a “critical” part of keeping the spread of the virus low, which in turn will allow the easing of lockdown restrictions.
Labour accuses government of ignoring British companies offering PPE
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer speaking during PMQs PA
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In his first PMQs as Labour leader Starmer said “something is going wrong” with the UK’s handling of the crisis.
Starmer was facing Dominc Raab, who is standing in for Boris Johnson while the prime minister recovers from Covid-19.
Labour said the firms who had “not received a reply” from the government included Issa Exchange Ltd in Birmingham, which had offered a quarter of a million aprons and masks; Network Medical Products in Ripon, which says it can provide 100,000 face visors a week; and CQM Learning, which says it can provide 8,000 face shields a day.
Starmer said: “A pattern is emerging here. We were slow into lockdown. Slow on testing. Slow on PPE. And now slow to take up these offers from British firms.”
Starmer also backed calls for the government to formally recommend people wear face masks on transport and in workplaces where social distancing is difficult.
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Masks wouldn’t stop wearers catching the virus, but could help those who have the disease and are “asymptomatic” from spreading it to others. Several countries including Germany are advising the public to wear masks.
Health secretary Matt Hancock will meet ministers on Thursday to decide whether to make the recommendation.
Police must not unfairly target ethnic minorities during lockdown, MPs warn
Priti Patel has been warned by MPs that police must not repeat the “problems of stop and search” by unfairly targeting ethnic minorities while enforcing the coronavirus lockdown.
In a letter to the home secretary seen by HuffPost UK, the cross-party group said while the emergency powers handed to police were “clearly necessary” to prevent the spread of the virus, civil liberties must not be “curtailed more than necessary”.
Last week police in England revealed they had issued 3,203 fines against people for breaching lockdown measures between March 27 and April 13.
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Men were overwhelmingly the worst offenders, accounting for 82% of cases.
The majority (60%) of offenders identified as white, 23% did not identify their ethnicity, 10% were Asian, 4% were Black and 2% were mixed race.
NHS staff recalled after coronavirus tests deemed ‘not up to scratch’
Some NHS staff already tested for coronavirus may have been given inaccurate results, social care minister Helen Whately has admitted.
She told Sky News those workers were being offered another Covid-19 test after their initial tests were decided to be “not up to scratch”.
Whately said: “My understanding from the clinical advisers is some of the early tests were evaluated and the evaluation was actually they weren’t effective enough.
“This is a normal process when you are using a test for an illness – which, as we know, is a new illness, and we’re learning all the time.
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“Those who were tested with the test that we think is not up to scratch have been written to, to let them know, and they will be offered another test.”
Earlier on BBC Radio 4′s Today programme, she defended the government’s efforts to acquire personal protective equipment (PPE) for health and care workers.
She said the government had been contacted by more than 8,000 potential suppliers and that ministers are concentrating on those with established supply chains.
“What the team is doing (...) is moving quickest on those who have the largest scale that they can supply because we need billions of items of PPE,” she said.
'Some of the early tests weren't effective enough.'
Care minister @Helen_Whately tells @skynewsniall those who received a test that was 'not up to scratch' will have been written to and will be offered a new test.
Latest #coronavirus: https://t.co/CEqAowmqNk #KayBurley pic.twitter.com/TviQcbCCdo — SkyNews (@SkyNews) April 22, 2020
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RAF plane loaded with PPE finally lands in UK
An RAF plane, believed to be carrying a delayed consignment of personal protective equipment (PPE) for NHS staff, has landed in the UK.
Flight tracker RadarBox showed the Airbus A400-M registered ZM416 depart Istanbul and land just after 3.30am on Wednesday at RAF Brize Norton, PA Media reports.
The plane had been dispatched from the Oxfordshire base, where two other planes are on stand-by to pick up further kit from Turkey, late on Monday.
It is not known if the consignment, which was ordered on Thursday and originally due to arrive on Sunday, includes 400,000 badly-needed surgical gowns.
The government has come in for mounting criticism over its failure to ensure NHS staff treating coronavirus patients have the protective equipment they need.
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Missouri becomes first state to sue China over coronavirus outbreak
The US state of Missouri has become the first to sue the Chinese government over its handling of the coronavirus, in a move critics say is yet another attempt to deflect attention from President Trump’s slow response to the crisis which has so far killed 43,000 Americans.
The civil lawsuit, filed in federal court by Missouri attorney general Eric Schmitt, alleges negligence, among other claims. The complaint alleges Missouri and its residents have suffered possibly tens of billions of dollars in economic damages and seeks cash compensation.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
“The Chinese government lied to the world about the danger and contagious nature of COVID-19, silenced whistleblowers, and did little to stop the spread of the disease,” Schmitt, a Republican, said in a statement. “They must be held accountable for their actions.”
The lawsuit also accuses the Chinese government of making the pandemic worse by “hoarding” masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE).
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According to lawyers consulted by Reuters, the lawsuits are highly likely to fail.
A legal doctrine called sovereign immunity offers foreign governments broad protection from being sued in US courts, said Tom Ginsburg, a professor of international law at the University of Chicago.
Ginsburg also said he thought the recent flurry of lawsuits against China serve a political end for Republican leaders facing an election in November.
“We are seeing a lot of people on the political right focus on the China issue to cover up for the US government’s own errors,” he said.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-22--One-Upmanship Needs To Stop, Coronavirus Is Hard On Everyone

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We’re here to guide you through the coronavirus lockdown. Sign up to the Life newsletter for daily tips, advice, how-tos and escapism.
A man says he’s finding working from home tough. Another replies: “At least you’re not furloughed.” A mother admits she’s finding homeschooling difficult. She’s told: “Be grateful you’re not living alone.”
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Patience is wearing thin as the UK lockdown continues and we start arguing over who has it worse. Coronavirus is tough on everyone, yet it feels increasingly fraught to express distress at your personal situation, as friends, family and strangers online engage in this new sport of competitive misery.
Fear and anxiety may well be prompting this behaviour, with people seeking validation for their own feelings, says psychotherapist Lucy Beresford.
“We worry that people don’t understand us or hear our distress,” she tells HuffPost UK. “In a ‘survival of the fittest way’, we feel threatened when people talk about their own dramas, in case we are then ignored or overlooked and our longing for recognition is drowned out.”
While Covid-19 has unleashed lots of kindness, there is also a lot of anger around. For want of a more attainable target, we sometimes take aim at one another. “Attacking someone’s situation by highlighting your own problems is almost a cry for help,” says Beresford.
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Malte Mueller via Getty Images
Even so, being on the receiving end of this form of one-upmanship can be hard to deal with. Hearing someone else “has it worse” rarely helps us to feel better about our own situation.
“It has long been the case that trying to remind someone going through a dark time that the world is full of starving people does not work,” says Beresford. “In fact it’s damaging, because it will feel to the person in pain that you are trying to minimise their situation or rubbish their feelings.”
If left unchecked, persistent one-upmanship can damage our relationships, says Relate counsellor Dee Holmes. This risks destroying our core networks when we need them most, causing us to focus on having the last word, rather than supporting each other.
If you’ve noticed this behaviour when messaging friends and family, Holmes recommends taking the conversation away from social media or Whatsapp and dealing with it personally, perhaps over the phone or a one-to-one video call.
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“It may be that they misunderstood you,” she tells HuffPost UK. Try and see it from their point of view. Why did they feel the need to say what they did? Should you have said what you did? “For example if you commented about the negatives of homeschooling and had a response like ‘you are lucky you are not living alone’, respond directly with a ‘I am sorry my comment offended you. I can see that it must be hard being alone at this time.’”
Sympathetic comments can also take the heat out of debates with strangers on Facebook or Twitter, though Holmes says that you may find it easier to ignore those comments altogether.
If you’re the person doing the one-upping, perhaps feeling annoyed at people talking about problems that to you seem trivial, take a moment to acknowledge that this is a difficult time and we are all grappling with different issues.
“Acknowledge their issues and hope that gives them the space to acknowledge yours. You can say ‘I know it’s hard homeschooling your children, you must feel exhausted, I don’t have that problem but I do feel really scared and alone sometimes stuck in my flat alone.’”
It doesn’t help to judge others at the moment, nor will it help you feeling guilty about your own distress. Your feelings are valid, whether you’re an NHS frontline worker, a grieving family member, or someone struggling with the everyday challenges of lockdown. Breaking the cycle of one-upmanship and showing a little empathy has the potential to make everyone feel better.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-22--How To (Safely) Give Yourself, Or Someone You Live With, A Massage

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We’re here to guide you through the coronavirus lockdown. Sign up to the Life newsletter for daily tips, advice, how-tos and escapism.
Hunched away at our makeshift desks with limited movement, it’s unsurprising many of us have neck and shoulder pain – not to mention headaches – as a result of our shift to a more static, lockdown lifestyle.
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But it doesn’t have to be this way. While posture can play some part in the pain you might experience, it’s the lack of movement that’s the problem, says Claire Small, clinical director and physiotherapist at Pure Sports Medicine.
The trick to preventing neck, shoulder and back pain, she says, is to avoid holding yourself in one position for a long period of time – we need to move more. This prevents future pain, but for lots of us who are five or six weeks into working from home, the aches and pains are already alive and kicking.
So what can you do about it – and is an at-home massage a good idea?
First, you’ve got to stretch it out
We should stretch little and often throughout the day, rather than in one go. Karen Howell, managing director and massage therapist at Team Actuate, recommends setting a reminder every 30 minutes, where you sit up straight and stretch out your neck and shoulder muscles, or lie on the floor with your knees bent to straighten out the spine.
Simple neck stretches and shoulder rolls will ease any tension you might have built up, adds Sadie Goodson, founder of Fix Up Feel Good. Neck exercises are beneficial for those getting tension headaches, which can come from the upper joints in the neck.
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“Pain is a really good guide,” says Small. If you start to get pain in a certain area it’s probably because blood flow to that area is reduced. “Scan your body and be aware: am I carrying tension? Am I feeling any tension in particular?”
Whatever stretches you do, make sure you do them slowly and don’t force anything – you don’t want to end up doing more damage.
What about self-massage?
There’s nothing wrong with massaging yourself, or someone you live with, during lockdown – it increases circulation to the muscles and soft tissue. Ideally though, these massages should be coupled with stretches and movement exercises, says Small. A three-pronged approach.
Remember: avoid putting pressure on any area that is painful – if you’re experiencing pain, you might want to seek an online appointment with a physio or massage therapist.
If you live alone, use a tennis ball (or a similar-sized ball) and place it between your spine and shoulder blade – never directly on your spine. Then, lean up against a wall and roll the ball up and down that area. You can also do this along your lower back area.
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“Be careful how much pressure you use and how long you use it for,” warns Howell, who’s worked as a massage therapist for more than 20 years. “Overuse or incorrect use can irritate already sore muscles, so go easy to start with.”
There are other things you can use. Try a foam roller – if you don’t have one, make one by wrapping a rolling pin in a towel and fastening it with elastic bands or string. Renata Nunes, a physiotherapist and massage therapist, also suggests grabbing hold of a rolling pin, clean toothbrush or body brush and gently stroking the neck muscles with it downwards towards the shoulders. Press softly and do as often as required.
A towel can work, too. “Take a small-medium towel and roll it into a long sausage,” she says. “Hold it at each end so that it cradles the base of your head, top of your neck, and relax your head into the towel. Keep the weight of your head in the towel. Twist the towel from side to side to rock the head.”
You can also try without props and use your hands to massage your back. Lie down, make fists with your thumb outside the fist, and place them either side of your spine. Move around on them to relieve any tension.
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Can you massage someone else?
The biggest mistake people make when doing a home massage on someone else is pressing too firmly and deeply, says Nunes. You have to be careful, as there are ways to hurt someone if you go straight in with a full deep-tissue massage with no prior experience.
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However, says Goodson, simple “flushing motions” – keeping the touch light and using the flat of the hands – won’t damage. Use oil or lotion so you’re creating a glide on the skin and stick to larger surface areas such as the legs and back.
While a lot of people might be tempted to massage their friend or partner on a bed, Howell advises against it. “A bed can be too soft and bend the recipient’s spine,” she says. “It can also twist the neck and could be too low for the person giving the massage and possibly strain their back, too.” Not ideal.
Howell suggests sitting the other person in a straight-backed chair. “Make sure their head is in alignment with the spine,” she says. “You can give a short massage through clothing if the clothing is soft – cotton-based, not nylon or anything thick or scratchy – or use a light oil or cream on bare skin.”
Use gentle squeezing and rubbing motions to increase blood flow upwards into tight muscles. But don’t massage on the bone or spine. “To release upper body tension, start from between the shoulder blades using the thumbs in upwards circular motions and work your way up into the neck and shoulders,” says Howell.
“Squeeze either side of the spine in the neck with the thumb and fingers right up into the base of the skull. You may feel tight muscles right next to the cervical spine, these can refer to pain behind the eyes or up into the temples.
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“Releasing these areas can get rid of tension headaches.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-22--I Met My Flatmate Weeks Before She Nursed Me Through Coronavirus Symptoms

HuffPost UK Courtesy of the author
In March, I arrived in Aix-en-Provence, France, to complete the second part of my year abroad. Studying French at university, I’m here to spend a year living in the country to practice the language and immerse myself in the culture.
I moved into a very tiny apartment in the city centre and said hello to my flatmate, Isabella, a 29-year-old PhD student from Italy carrying out research in Aix. She struck me as a very intelligent person, passionate about her work and her family, and always ready to offer advice drawn from her eight extra years of life experience.
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During the week, we mostly kept out of each other’s way; she was busy with her PhD and gave me the impression of being an extremely driven, work-oriented person. Little did we know that we would soon be providing each other’s only real human contact.
In the short time we lived together before lockdown, we became friendly quite quickly. Just before Emmanuel Macron advised everyone to stay at home, we went on our first (and, as it turned out, only) night out together, breaking down some boundaries in a way only red wine and vodka shots can.
“The day lockdown was announced, I sat in my room feeling a little bit shaken, listening to Isabella speaking in rapid-fire Italian on the phone in the next room. We talked, though neither of us knew what to say.”
The day lockdown was announced, I sat in my room feeling a little bit shaken, listening to Isabella speaking in rapid-fire Italian on the phone in the next room. We later bumped into each other in the kitchen – she in search of some emergency rosé, me in need of a comforting late-night snack. We talked, though neither of us knew what to say.
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The next night, I heard Isabella crying to her mum on the phone. I wanted to reach out to her, to give her a hug or make her a cup of tea, but we hadn’t quite reached the point where we would knock on each other’s bedroom doors and I didn’t want to intrude if she needed some time to herself. Although we were together in the same flat, living through the same crazy experience, there was still some distance between us. I was reminded of how little time we had spent together, and how superficial my knowledge of my flatmate and new lockdown partner really was.
Throughout the following weeks, however, all of that rapidly changed.
I fell ill and was bed-bound for a week, and suddenly Isabella was treating me as though I were her own younger sister. She went to the pharmacy and stocked up on painkillers for me, insisted on doing my grocery shopping and made sure that I ate something, and would leave cups of mint tea and reassuring notes outside my bedroom door.
Because I wanted to stay in my room as much as possible to minimise the risk of making my flatmate ill, we sent WhatsApp messages to each other from separate rooms. I was surprised by how comforting I found the sound of her laughter coming through the wall as we joked together. On my own, far from my family, the presence of this near-stranger stopped me from feeling alone. Knowing that I had someone who was there for me through thick and thin, regardless of how little time we had spent together, made the whole situation feel much more manageable.
“Thanks to Isabella, the experience of living in lockdown in a cramped flat somehow became an enjoyable one.”
The second I recovered, I organised a wine and cheese night to say thank you to Isabella. We lit candles, ate baked camembert with fresh bread, and talked late into the night. We opened up to each other more and more with each hour that passed, and by the time we finally headed to bed I felt as though we had known each other for years.
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That night marked a turning point in our friendship, and the next day we picked up the conversation where we had left off the night before. Curled up on the sofa, cradling our coffees and nursing faint wine headaches, we discussed our worries for our families, our lockdown survival plans, and told each other things that we had previously only disclosed to our closest friends.
Soon we made a great lockdown team: we made each other laugh, we were always up for a good chat over a cup of tea, and we both understood the need for a reassuring hug sometimes. We now trusted each other completely, and our friendship deepened with each passing day. She cheered me up when I was feeling anxious about my seriously immunocompromised dad back in the UK, and I calmed her down when she was stressed about her decreased productivity and lack of PhD progress. Thanks to Isabella, the experience of living in lockdown in a cramped flat somehow became an enjoyable one.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-22--I Worried About Having My Wedding On Zoom, But It Was Incredible

HuffPost UK Courtesy of the author
Covid-19 has taken its full course in shutting down just about everything. Social distancing is the norm instead of a rare occurrence. I personally know friends and family members who are being affected by covid-19, many of their health conditions taking a turn for the worse. My own exposure to the virus is increasing at an alarming rate since I’m a registered nurse. As such, I am high-risk for exposing my husband and others on my commute or at work to the virus.
Yet in all of the chaos, I was planning a wedding for this summer, and my husband, Farzan, and I knew we had to make quick, important decisions about our future together.
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Our vendors had been paid their deposits, flights were booked for overseas individuals and my wedding dress was in the process of being made. We were faced with a difficult decision to assess the harrowing situation of covid-19 and on March 10, we mutually decided to postpone the wedding until further notice. This potentially seemed stress-free at the time, giving us more time to save money for the wedding and plan more intricate details for our special day. In reality, this posed another difficult conundrum. Farzan and I come from two fairly traditional Muslim families. Postponing our wedding ceremony further meant postponing the start of our lives together in terms of cohabitating with each other.
With hourly changes on the news, state curfews and shelter-in-place rules, we knew we had to make a decision quickly before potentially being banned form seeing each other for what could be months, since I am from New York, and Farzan is from New Jersey.
One day as we were making the painstaking phone calls of contacting each vendor about our decisions to postpone, I posed a question to Farzan. “Hey, why don’t we just have a nikkah over Zoom?” A nikkah, the Islamic marriage, would solidify our partnership within the realms of our shared Islamic faith and to both our families. Traditionally, it would take place in a mosque and would require an Imam or Muslim officiant.
“Postponing our wedding seemed stress-free at the time, giving us more time to save money for the wedding and plan more intricate details for our special day. In reality, this posed another difficult conundrum.”
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Imagining the possibility that our wedding would be reduced to Zoom, I broke down into tears. I began to have vivid visions of what I would be missing out on by not proceeding with the ceremony we planned for the summer. Having dreamt of this day as a little girl, I couldn’t believe my elaborate plans would be limited to a video conference. I knew that we were postponing and this wasn’t the final ceremony. Even so, my heart still felt shattered.
After waiting what felt like a lifetime to meet the person whose soul was connected to mine, postponing the main events truly felt devastating. I felt as though the world was playing a trick on me. I could not wrap my head around how battling numerous obstacles and roadblocks could yet lead to another challenge. I could not imagine my special day without my family, best friends and loved ones we grew up with, next to me in person. Despite acknowledging that we were indeed postponing, not having a clear date in mind and not knowing that it could even happen this year made me feel anxious and deeply saddened me.
The unconventional, technological-based route, and doing things seemingly out of order, stirred panic in me. I knew that planning a wedding and being married would include its obstacles but nothing seemed to have prepared us for this.
However, at the same time, I was witnessing the heartaches that people close to me were going through in barely making ends meet, being laid off, not being able to afford mortgages and witnessing lifelong businesses being shut down. At work, I was seeing an increase in people having to discuss end-of-life care forms with seemingly prior healthy family members. I quickly realised the reality of my situation wasn’t going to change anytime soon and I recognised that my heartache was a privileged one that I could quickly remedy.
“After the loss of my brother, I couldn’t fathom the idea that my future wedding would be missing any more of my family members or loved ones.”
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I embraced that change was occurring and ultimately realised that even before covid-19 had existed, the health and happiness of my loved ones were most significant to me. In 2017, I had lost my only brother, Rashad, to spinal muscular atrophy. After the loss of my brother, I couldn’t fathom the idea that my future wedding would be missing any more of my family members or loved ones.
And so we discussed our ideas to proceed over Zoom with our officiant on the legality of it, and we found that it was completely allowed and acceptable as long as we still had two witnesses. So Farzan and I would be on one screen together, our officiant would call in from his own to abide by social distancing rules, and then all of our loved ones would be witnesses.
Planning for our Zoom wedding was very different than what I was previously planning. Firstly, we had to break it to our traditional Bengali and Pakistani parents. We had to explain the full concept of a video conferencing ceremony, essentially explaining not being able to invite anyone in person, even if they lived next door. This was an extremely difficult conversation to have as our parents didn’t fully grasp the importance of social distancing yet and didn’t want to personally offend anyone by not inviting them in person.
Although it was a challenging conversation, we ultimately decided it was the best decision to include everyone from a virtual standpoint and not risk their safety for the sake of our wedding day. In addition, everyone kept on asking us if we would be regretful of this decision when looking back on this moment in the future. We faithfully and confidently knew, the only regret we would ever have is to not be together when given the opportunity to do so, especially during a global pandemic and both being essential workers.
On March 28, we made sure our technical issues were taken care of. We had our wifi and data networks triple-checked to ensure everything would go smoothly. Ultimately, everyone had successfully logged on and many people had even dressed up (from the bottom up, of course) in traditional clothing and in wedding attire. An emotional reunion across all generations unfolded, as Farzan and I exchanged our vows and became one. We had about 70 screens filled with two or more people each logged on to witness our wedding.
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“We faithfully and confidently knew, the only regret we would ever have is to not be together when given the opportunity to do so, especially during a global pandemic and both being essential workers.”
What we thought would be a short 30-minute event turned into an hour and a half celebration with our loved ones. Everyone stayed long after the officiant proclaimed us husband and wife and we exchanged many loving conversations with those we hold close. Not wanting to let anything get in the way of our love made it that much easier to have an unconventional wedding. Of course I wish I could have hugged my family members, or taken traditional photos of the big day, but we’ll still celebrate in person with everyone after the pandemic.
After Farzan moved in with me unexpectedly quickly – on the same day as the nikkah, so we could start our lives while still being socially responsible because of the coronavirus – I quickly realised I would’ve regretted waiting many more months to start this journey with him. Having him there as my day starts and as my day ends has made me feel blissfully carefree especially in such trying times. I thought it would have been difficult to have this change because I have lived alone for the past year, and I never lived with anyone besides my parents, but our support and love for each other have been keeping us afloat.
In hindsight, all of the changes and concerns that occurred prior to the Zoom nikkah seems like a blessing in disguise now. Although planning glamorous details and extravagance can be extremely time consuming, personalised and special, the essence of what ultimately mattered to us was being together. As things still unfold drastically in the world, I am reminded that life is way too short to be apart from someone and live without them in the midst of a pandemic.
Our nikkah remains as one of the most precious moments in my life and serves as a gentle reminder of how individuals can still remain connected at a time like this. We were lucky and grateful to share the opportunity to focus on something beautiful, joyous and positive even if it was just for two hours during such chaotic and uncertain times. Despite all of the obstacles we faced, a dreamy and magical wedding day still occurred and our beautiful union was celebrated. We can’t wait to finalise a new date for our events and celebrate with everyone in person, and I know it will be even more meaningful and special than the initial plans we had.
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This article first appeared on HuffPost Personal


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-22--Here's How To Make Ikea's Famed Swedish Meatballs

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Money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy you the ingredients to make Ikea’s famous Swedish meatballs.
The furniture retailer’s account tweeted the recipe for its meatballs and accompanying cream sauce on Monday, paired with illustrated instructions for a novice cook.
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It’s a relatively simple recipe. All a hungry chef needs to whip up some meatballs is some ground beef, ground pork, onion, garlic, breadcrumbs, eggs and milk. The sauce’s shopping list includes butter, flour, vegetable stock, beef stock, heavy cream, soy sauce and Dijon mustard.
Missing your IKEA meatball fix? We’ve created a recipe for you to recreate this delicious dish in the comfort of your own home #IKEAmeatballs pic.twitter.com/d89lRsJxH7 — IKEA UK (@IKEAUK) April 20, 2020
Many people have taken to cooking and baking while in lockdown in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus, which Lorena Lourido, Ikea’s country food manager in the UK and Ireland, told People she knows “can be hard.”
“We want to help make everyone’s lives that little bit easier and more enjoyable,” she told the publication.
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Lourido also noted that this recipe is an “at-home alternative” to the meatballs they sell in-store and uses “easily accessible ingredients,” so while it might not be the exact ones the retailer makes, they’re pretty darn close.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-22--11 Parenting Tweets To Give Mums And Dads A Much Needed Laugh

Zoran Milic via Getty Images
We’re here to guide you through the coronavirus lockdown. Sign up to the Life newsletter for daily tips, advice, how-tos and escapism.
The kids are back to school – and by school we mean kicking up a fuss at the kitchen table and asking for snacks every three minutes. While the BBC might be here to help you with homeschooling, it can still be bloody hard.
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And so, to reward (or alleviate) your efforts, we’ve rounded up some tweets from other parents showing that life isn’t rosy for them either. Because if there’s anything we need right now, it’s a good ol’ belly laugh of recognition.
1. Dad outwits his prankster kids.
Kids pranking their parents? They’ll get you back even harder.
My youngest has been banging on about “prank week” and has been royally pranking us all day.
Little does she know, her father is the prank master
Both of them panicking now, the bonus is that their sadness has brought a hush into the house. pic.twitter.com/IsI6MoZb2V — schwitz (@sentientbomb) April 21, 2020
2. Child’s drawing is bloody strange.
Not quite as uplifting as those rainbows really, is it?
My wife asked my son if he wanted to draw another picture to stick on the window... pic.twitter.com/EVGPEYbFnA — James McEnaney (@MrMcEnaney) April 20, 2020
3. Baby orders an onion.
That’ll be 20 quid for a large one, please.
Let my one year-old daughter play with my phone and she ordered one onion on Deliveroo. pic.twitter.com/28qVw0qYNP — Jamie (@Jamsoir) April 20, 2020
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4. Toddler hates mum’s cooking.
“Misgusting” is a term we can all get on board with.
Today I made a sourdough loaf I forgot about and left in the oven for 20 minutes too long, and some pancakes that the three-year-old spat out and branded “misgusting”. Winning at lockdown — Victoria Richards (@nakedvix) April 20, 2020
5. Kid calls police on dad.
Isn’t this just normal WFH attire?
If anyone is wondering how lockdown is going. I was doing @thebodycoach fancy dress work out when my toddler accidentally called the police on the landline. This is how I was dressed. #PEWithJoe #noofficerwearefine pic.twitter.com/oXEtAcnFx2 — David Allen (@DaveAllen7011) April 17, 2020
6. Three-year-old does mum’s makeover.
Hard relate to those dark under-eye bags.
Parent in Lockdown
April 2020
Artist : 3yr old
Bold use of colours. Massive black block represents the tired eyebags of parenting. Crosses symbolise a toddler's apparent birth-right to shout "NO" at everything. Note the distant, staring look of a parent now done with lockdown. pic.twitter.com/2Aa7hR3Ge7 — Amy Judd (@MeetCornelia) April 16, 2020
7. Toddlers won’t stop drawing.
Everywhere. Why. Whyyyyy.
Why use a coloring book when this ENTIRE house can be my canvas?!
~Toddlers — A Bearer Of Dad News (@HomeWithPeanut) April 12, 2020
8. Parent makes artwork of it.
“My kid could draw that.” (Oh wait, he did).
This is so amazing. I am completely in love with this. That might be my museum-loving, art-nerd persona coming to the forefront. But so envious too that I didn't think of this myself! 😄
[taken from facebook] pic.twitter.com/qPkFGmYkSY — Pragya Agarwal: SWAY Out Now (@DrPragyaAgarwal) April 16, 2020
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9. Boy tapes up dolls.
This might just be... one of the most unsettling tweets we’ve seen.
I think lockdown might be getting to my son..... pic.twitter.com/1qC3v6TGg9 — Jake Sanson (@JakeSanson) April 20, 2020
10. Teen pretends he’s kidnapped.
Because that’s not worrying at all to someone walking past...
Just caught my son standing at the front window with this #lockdown pic.twitter.com/Dx2xG2ZFY1 — Jo Warner (@JoWarner01) April 15, 2020
11. Three little girls leave note.
“We are leaving home for the treehouse because our lives are horrible.” At least the parents will get some... space.
My friend’s three daughters have had enough of lockdown. I feel this so much. “Do not talk to us (unles it’s dinner)” pic.twitter.com/hacK2vLMK2 — Orla (@MollyBl00m) April 20, 2020


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-22--How It Feels When Climate Change Pulls Your House Into The Sea

Nicola Bayless has called Happisburgh home for a large part of her life.
The tiny Norfolk village overlooking the North Sea is where her daughters grew up, spending summers on the beach and running through the adjacent fields under the historic lighthouse.
It’s where she helped her parents run a small cafe in the annexe of their bungalow, selling hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows. Her home in Beach Road is filled with memories of family barbecues and Christmases, and they are the walls in which she lost her husband, Stephen, four years ago.
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Happisburgh is everything to the Bayless family, and it is slowly disappearing, literally being swallowed by the sea.
“There’s no ‘ifs’ about it. I am going to lose my house,” said Bayless. “There’s nothing else we can do. The sea is nature.”
Nicola Bayless outside her home in Happisburgh. HuffPost UK
Coastal erosion has claimed more than 35 homes in Happisburgh over the last 20 years, as the coastline creeps inland – threatening the historic village that draws holidaymakers every summer.
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“Happisburgh is a 1,000-year-old Saxon village,” said Clive Stockton, who owns the town pub, The Hill House, which has been in operation since 1610.
As the land falls away, historic buildings like Stockton’s pub may cease to exist, along with the oldest working lighthouse in East Anglia and St Mary’s Church, built in the 12th century.
“Coastal erosion is a one-off event. Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. You can’t replace it. You can’t go even to the place that used to be, because that’s in the sea.”
Publican and council chair Clive Stockton HuffPost UK
Coastal erosion is a historic problem – the UK’s coastline has been carved out by the process over many millennia – but there are fears it will be accelerated as the world heats up.
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Happisburgh is emblematic of many coastal communities in the UK fearing the wrath of the climate crisis. From Fairborne, which will be the first town to be decommissioned in the UK, to the Yorkshire village of Skipsea, 20 homes are at risk of falling into the sea in the next 12 months.
Happisburgh Lighthouse HuffPost UK
As a result, residents in coastal communities like Happisburgh will soon join a group referred to as climate migrants.
“The fact that the UK is experiencing climate migrants shows the gravity of the situation,” said Muna Suleiman, a campaigner for Friends of the Earth.
“Governments and councils, it’s a new terrain for them. But what we do know is we need to ensure things like flood defences are as strong as possible, and that we do everything we can to protect these communities.”
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Muna Suleiman, a campaigner for Friends of the Earth HuffPost UK
Happisburgh has tried to mitigate the crisis it is facing. In 2009, the village’s Coastal Concern Action Group put in a bid for national funding from the government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). It received a grant of £3.75m through a programme called Pathfinder, with which it bought homes off those closest to the edge of Happisburgh’s receding coastline.
“We managed to purchase nine properties, which were at immediate risk, to allow those people to move on with their lives,” said Malcom Kirby, who has been head of the CCAG for 21 years.
“For every property that was demolished as part of the programme, one was built inland with the original owners having the option to purchase. The homes were purchased at about half their property value but for some, it was the best case scenario on a home they couldn’t insure or sell.”
One resident to turn down the buyout was Bryony Nierop-Reading, who has lived in Happisburgh since 2009 when she moved into a cliff-top bungalow in a “dream location” overlooking the sea. She declined the Pathfinder proposal, believing she had more than a decade left in the property before there was any real danger.
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Bryony Nierop-Reading HuffPost UK
But only 40ft of land separated her home from the unforgiving waters below the cliff and it would be just four years before a tidal surge eventually claimed the bungalow.
“The night of the tidal surge, I moved over into the caravan on the other side of the road. In the morning, I looked across at the bungalow and I thought: ‘It’s still there – I’m safe.’ But when I went towards it, I could see that the whole of the cliff and a third of the bungalow had just vanished.”
It was demolished shortly after the tidal surge as Nierop-Reading watched, surrounded by her friends and family, bidding farewell to her dream home over a glass of bubbles.
What followed was a long legal battle over planning permission as she moved into a motorhome on a plot near where she lost her bungalow.
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Despite the long legal battles and the distress caused by losing a home, Nierop-Reading is back living on the front line of coastal erosion – in the property nearest the edge of the retreating cliff edge.
“I felt very strongly that if I am living in a position of danger myself, it is going to focus my mind better than if I move to a comfortable place inland where I would probably do as the rest of people do inland – forget about coastal erosion. At least, that’s my excuse.”
Bryony's and Nicola's houses in Beach Road HuffPost UK
Money like that allocated through the Pathfinder program could be invested in efforts to fortify the coastlines, but some believe it would be better spent relocating the affected communities.
So could the Happisburgh model be replicated in other affected areas around the UK?
“Absolutely,” said Kirby. “We wanted something [in the Happisburgh model] that could, shall we say, change national policy and approach. In other words, central government, we needed to shake their tree, so that they could change the whole framework against which they operate.”
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Regardless of what governments decide – here or in other parts of the world – about the issue of coastal erosion, they can no longer ignore the impacts of climate change.
“I think it just shows the absolute urgency of the climate crisis,” said Suleiman. “Even though we know there are parts of the world that are already hit by the crisis, and will feel the worst effects of it, no one is immune to it. So we’ll all feel the impacts of it, and it’s creating this new normal for us.”
For Bayless, her nights are sleepless as the nearby waves crashing on the shoreline can be anxiety-inducing.
“The house trembles,” she said. “You can feel it. And when parts of the cliff drop near the house, there is a shudder. It’s like an earthquake. It’s like a thump, and you move – it makes you move.”
Darcy Bayless HuffPost UK
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Her 16-year-old daughter Darcy is preparing to move on from her childhood home, which she describes as a one-time “family hub”. Her generation is left to face the effects of climate change as no other has, as physical places change and disappear.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-21--Coronavirus: Why We Shouldn't Place All Our Hopes On A Vaccine

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A vaccine is the holy grail in the fight against coronavirus – a simple injection for everyone that will mean an end to lockdowns, social distancing and daily government announcements on death tolls.
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Last month health secretary Matt Hancock announced a new vaccine taskforce was “working flat out” so that “when a vaccine becomes available, it can be produced quickly and in mass quantities”.
Only there’s a slight catch – “when it becomes available” suggests it’s a certainty, and it’s anything but.
Our new Vaccine Taskforce will further drive forward our fight for a #coronavirus vaccine: https://t.co/n0DnXwnfkZ — Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) April 17, 2020
Professor Ravi Gupta, of the Cambridge Institute for Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease, told HuffPost UK: “We need to prepare for a world where we don’t have a vaccine.
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“To base public policy on the hope of a vaccine is a desperate measure. We should hope for a vaccine but we shouldn’t expect one in the next year and a half.
“Anyone who says we can is bonkers.”
Boris Johnson sounded a similarly cautious tone on Monday night, when he told the press conference: “I hope, hope, hope that we will achieve a vaccine... [but] this is by no means guaranteed."
He added: "I believe I’m right in saying that even after 18 years we still don’t have a vaccine for Sars."
Creating vaccines is a complex and lengthy task at the best of times. Despite nearly 40 years of research, scientists are yet to develop one for the virus that causes Aids.
What is a vaccine?
There are a number of different ways that vaccines can work but what they all have in common is that they harmlessly expose viruses or bacteria to the body’s immune system.
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This causes the body to recognise them as dangerous and learn how to resist them. It means that if, the body comes across the infection, it knows how to defend itself.
Why do we need one?
At the moment, not only do we lack a vaccine for the virus that causes Covid-19: we also lack an effective treatment.
Dr Peter English, a consultant in communicable disease control, told HuffPost UK: “We might get better treatments but they’ll only be of use in countries that can afford them, so without a vaccine we’ll be looking at something that’s probably still worse than flu in terms of the number of people who get seriously ill, coming around every winter for the foreseeable future.
″[A vaccine] is the only way we’ll ever get out of this – the virus is out there in the world.
“There’s no way it’s going to be containable. It’s going to race across Africa and India and all the developing countries. There’s no way we can put it back in its box.”
Why do they take so long to make?
Developing any treatment, including vaccines, requires lengthy testing periods on both animals and humans.
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“There are lots of different ways of designing vaccines and we’re not sure which one will work for this, if any,” says Prof Gupta.
“Then you have to check it’s safe by injecting into animals and that takes months – then you have to show that it has some efficacy.”
An initial phase one trial is usually carried out on a small group of up to 100 people to make sure the vaccine has no major safety concerns, and to allow scientists to work out an effective dose in humans.
The phase two study is carried out on a larger group of several hundred people to check if the vaccine works consistently and generates an immune response, as well as to look for possible side effects.
Then a much larger phase three study – potentially on several thousand people – can be carried out to allow scientists to gather statistically significant data on a vaccine’s safety and efficacy.
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This means looking at whether the vaccine generates a level of immunity that would prevent disease and provide evidence that the vaccine can actually reduce the number of cases.
It also gives a better chance of identifying rarer side effects not seen in the phase two study.
Can’t this be sped up for a global pandemic?
Some parts of the process can, but others simply can’t be rushed.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) says given the circumstances it may be possible to overlap the three usual phases of clinic testing and accept less complete data than it would normally expect.
But one of the most important factors to measure for in a vaccine is how long the protection it offers actually lasts. In the case of Covid-19, anything less than a year will not be much use.
And the only way to see if protection lasts a year is to wait for a year after it’s administered during a trial.
Only then can you begin to roll it out to the wider population.
How close are we to a coronavirus vaccine?
A group of Oxford University researchers began clinical trials for a coronavirus vaccine on April 23.
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Sarah Gilbert, Professor of Vaccinology at Oxford University, acknowledged nobody can be “completely certain” that it is possible to find a vaccine for Covid-19 – but believes the prospects are “very good”.
Yet even the government’s chief scientific adviser says expectations need to be tempered.
He told the press conference on Monday: “It’s a tough thing to do.”
What about other coronavirus vaccines?
There’s a mixed track record with previous coronaviruses – we’re still not immune to the common cold and vaccines for Mers and Sars, also caused by coronaviruses, were never sufficiently tested to prove their efficacy.
Dr English said: “The science is there and they did a lot of work on Mers vaccine but there wasn’t a market for it. It didn’t affect enough people to warrant the incredible cost of developing a vaccine.”
What if it doesn’t work?
We’ll keep trying.
“Look at the Aids field,” says Prof Gupta. “We’re still trying to make vaccines after 30 years so there’s no answer to that.”
There are options other than vaccines. It’s just that a vaccine would be the ideal – essentially an “inject, forget and get on with your life” treatment for everyone.
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Prof Gupta adds: “The alternatives for a vaccine will be antiviral treatments for the disease.
“If we could treat the disease and diagnose it early then you could have a test and a treatment that, if you can start soon enough, you should be able to halt the disease early.
“It might mean you can get infected again but that might be what you have to accept.”
Will life return to normal without one?
This depends on how effective any treatments that are developed are.
World Health Organisation regional director for the Western Pacific, Takeshi Kasai, said in April that people must be ready for a new way of living to allow society to function while the coronavirus is being kept in check.
Speaking to an online press conference, he said we must adapt our lives and health systems along with the epidemic, adding: “At least until a vaccine, or a very effective treatment, is found, this process will need to become our new normal.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-22--Thousands Offered Coronavirus Home-Testing To Help Track Spread Of Outbreak

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The government wants up to around 300,000 people to take part in a new study tracking coronavirus in the population to try to understand the current rate of infection and how many have developed antibodies to the virus.
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Some 20,000 households in England are being contacted to take part in the first-wave of the research, with initial findings expected in early May.
All participants will provide a nose and throat swab to test for whether or not they currently have the virus, while adults in some 1,000 of the households will provide a blood sample to find out what proportion of the population has developed antibodies to Covid-19.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), leading the study with the Office for National Statistics (ONS), said participants will form a representative sample of the UK population by age and geography.
Those selected will provide samples taken from self-administered nose and throat swabs and answer a few short questions during a home visit by a trained healthcare professional.
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Swab tests will show whether or not participants currently have the virus.
They will be asked to take further tests every week for the first five weeks, then every month for a year.
In total, the government says some 25,000 people will take part in the pilot phase with plans to extend it to up to around 300,000 over the next 12 months.
Scientists will also analyse blood samples from adults in around 1,000 households to determine how many people have developed antibodies to the virus.
Antibody testing is considered crucial in providing an exit pathway from the current lockdown, and also providing data to those developing a vaccine.
England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said at Wednesday’s daily Downing Street briefing that there is currently not a test available that Public Health England (PHE) has enough confidence in.
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Participants in the antibody test will be asked to give further samples monthly for the next 12 months.
PA
The government says nose and throat swabs will be taken from all participating households, whether their members are reporting symptoms or not.
Blood for antibody tests will not be taken in any households where someone has symptoms of Covid-19 or is currently self-isolating or shielding.
The study will involve the University of Oxford, data science company IQVIA UK and the National Biosample Centre in Milton Keynes.
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DHSC said healthcare workers will use recommended precautions to protect themselves and everyone in the household from getting the virus, and tests will be undertaken by the IQVIA nurse in the participant’s own home.
Although swab test results will be given to participants via their GP, a letter seen by the PA news agency says that those participating in the antibody test will not receive their results.
The de-identified blood samples will be sent to Oxford University to be tested for antibodies, while infection testing swabs are to be sent to UK Biocentre.
Health secretary Matt Hancock said: “This survey will help to track the current extent of transmission and infection in the UK, while also answering crucial questions about immunity as we continue to build up our understanding of this new virus.
“Together, these results will help us better understand the spread of the virus to date, predict the future trajectory and inform future action we take, including crucially the development of ground-breaking new tests and treatments.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-22--Keir Starmer’s First PMQs Rattled Raab, But Can He Outfight Johnson?

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Keir and present danger
The socially-distanced House of Commons was as quiet as a courtroom, so it was no surprise that Keir Starmer felt right at home for his debut PMQs. The former campaigning lawyer and Director of Public Prosecutions asked typically forensic and focused questions and - shock, horror - actually thought on his feet in response to the answers given by Dominic Raab.
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Pressing on the bruise that is the government’s record on coronavirus testing and protective equipment for NHS and social care staff, Starmer carefully laid the foundations for what felt like will one day be the case for the prosecution on the Johnson administration’s failures in tackling this deadly disease.
Acutely aware that governments lose elections more than oppositions win them, ministerial competence is obviously going to be a key theme of the Starmer years. With Boris Johnson enjoying huge public backing for the lockdown and his party still way ahead in the polls, the Labour leader also knows that he has to act in the national interest while keeping his options open for the inevitable inquiry into all this.
That tricky balancing act was clear on his PMQs debut, and he managed to pull it off by raising the cases of 36 British firms who told Labour that their offers of personal protective equipment had been ignored. The issue managed to combine a dollop of patriotism (expect more of this, particularly on China and Russia) with the message that businesses felt safe enough with Starmer’s Labour to pass on their concerns.
More than anything, the big prize sought by Starmer’s allies is that he is seen early on by the public as an alternative prime minister. He’s fond of talking about providing ‘constructive opposition’ (a hint of a break with Jeremy Corbyn) but what he really means is ‘credible opposition’ (an explicit break with Jeremy Corbyn). Some Labour MPs are already saying he’s their first ‘grown up’ leader since Gordon Brown.
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Starmer still injected some politics to the legalistic case he built, quoting a “terrified” member of the Covid-19 front line. And this was not just a care worker, this was “a Unison care worker”, a shrewd nod to the trade union that first endorsed his leadership and set him on the road to a landslide victory over his party rivals.
Still, it was Rebecca Long-Bailey who rightly pointed out during the leadership campaign that you can’t just “put on a nice suit and be a bit suave and think that’s a route into Downing Street”. One recent YouGov opinion poll punctured the Starmermania. When asked who would make ‘best prime minister’, Boris Johnson scored 46% to Starmer’s 22%. Some bloke called ‘Not Sure’ came ahead of Starmer on 28%, though he will see that as a big chunk of undecideds he can win over with a higher profile.
That may be why he tried to step up the rhetoric today with his final flourish that “we were slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on protective equipment and now slow to take up those offers from British firms”.
His delivery didn’t exactly put the ‘bite’ into ‘soundbite’, but it was enough to rattle Raab, who made the error of sounding wounded (“If he thinks that he knows better than [the scientists] do, with the benefit of hindsight, then that is his decision..”) At another point, Starmer sounded like he was chiding a more junior lawyer (Raab was a solicitor not a barrister) as he said “I didn’t need correcting” on test figures.
When Starmer faces Johnson himself, he will face a very different enemy, and one that will have huge reinforcements once the Commons is out of lockdown and has packed benches once more. The Tory wall of sound will jeer Starmer as much as it cheers its leader who, unlike Raab, single-handedly won many of their seats. Both a mascot and a team captain to his troops, Johnson has the advantage of huge public sympathy over his own recent illness too. Whether the public prefer the PM’s broadbrush strokes to Starmer’s precision is what may ultimately decide the next election.
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But a noisier Commons could help Starmer too. Even the reduced number of Labour MPs can still make a mighty row in the small space of the chamber and Starmer is likely to be cheered in a way his predecessor never was. TV soundbites need noisy reactions to underline the point, just as footballers need a cheering crowd to validate their goals. Today, Maria Eagle’s heckles (“pathetic!”) seemed to raise Raab’s hackles, and proved that a bit of noise is actually as much of a help to the Opposition as to a government.
Labour leader Keir Starmer speaking during prime minister's questions in the House of Commons, London. PA
For all the talk of national unity, Starmer is not just socially distancing himself from the Tories, he’s politically distancing himself too. His calls for a clearer ‘exit strategy’ make him look ahead of the curve, while knowing just how difficult that will be to pull off - and how long it will take.
At today’s No.10 press conference it was not Raab but chief medical officer Chris Whitty who stole the show by showing some candour that ministers have so far been afraid to share. On the issue of care deaths (raised by Starmer), Whitty warned the numbers were underrepresented. But more importantly on the length of the lockdown, he said there was only an ‘incredibly small’ chance that either an effective vaccine or treatments would be ready before 2021. And “very socially disruptive” measures would be needed until then.
On the first day of his Labour leadership, Starmer said the coronavirus pandemic proved that there could be “no more business as usual” in the UK. On health policy and on the economy, he may well be right. The longer the lockdown, the tougher it gets politically for this government. Raab and Johnson know that huge polling lead will drop, though just how fast is anyone’s guess. Starmer still has a mountain to climb in seats too, but after today Labour MPs will feel the fightback has at least finally started.
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Quote Of The Day
“We are going to have to do a lot of things for really quite a long period of time”
Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer, on why life won’t be the same for quite a while
Wednesday Cheat Sheet
The number of people who died in care homes in England between 11 April and 15 April could double to 2,000, the CQC watchdog revealed. The number of deaths in UK hospitals in the past 24 hours increased by 759.
Health secretary Matt Hancock told MPs “we are at the peak” of the coronovirus pandemic in the UK. He also said that a contact tracing system will be ready “in a matter of weeks”.
Welsh government health minister Vaughan Gething was caught swearing about a Labour colleague in a virtual Welsh Assembly session after he left his microphone on by mistake.
Keir Starmer backed calls for the government to formally recommend people wear face masks on transport and in workplaces where social distancing is difficult.
What I’m Reading
The COVID Crisis Is Reinforcing the Hunger Industrial Complex - MITPress
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-22--'Wholly Unrealistic' To Expect Life To Return To Normal Soon, Chief Medical Officer Says

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It is “wholly unrealistic” to expect life to return to normal in 2020 as the UK cannot defeat the coronavirus until it has a vaccine or treatment, England’s chief medical officer has suggested.
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Chris Whitty said the chances of either a vaccine or effective treatment being available in this “calendar year” were “incredibly small”.
And so the government’s effort must be focused on keeping the infection, or R, rate below one so that each person infected with Covid-19 passes it on to less than one other person on average.
A failure to do this could see the NHS overwhelmed and so there is only a “narrow” range of options available to ministers when considering how to ease the current lockdown, which will be reviewed again on May 7.
These include measures to balance Covid-19 deaths against deaths from other causes because the NHS is focusing on the virus, as well as analysing whether lockdowns can damage people’s mental and physical health, and whether the economic impact can also shorten lives.
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Whitty told the daily Downing Street briefing: “This disease is not going to be eradicated, it is not going to disappear.
“We have to accept that we are working with a disease that we are going to be with globally for the foreseeable future.”
He added: “If people are hoping it’s going to suddenly move from where we are now in lockdown suddenly into everything’s gone, that is a wholly unrealistic expectation.
“We are going to have to do a lot of things for really quite a long period of time, the question is what is the best package.”
Dominic Raab meanwhile refused to say whether some lockdown restrictions could be eased when it is reviewed on May 7, while admitting there was now a “glimmer” of hope as the UK passes the peak of infections.
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He suggested there are reasons to be optimistic with daily death rates and new cases slowly falling, and hospitalisations falling in London and flattening in the rest of the country.
“There is certainly light at the end of the tunnel, there is a glimmer, but we are not there yet,” Raab told the Downing Street daily press briefing.
Raab has set five tests before the lockdown can be lifted, including:
The NHS maintaining the capacity to cope with Covid-19 cases
A sustained and consistent fall in the daily death rate
Reliable data from SAGE showing the rate of infection is decreasing to “manageable levels across the board”
Supply of tests and personal protective equipment (PPE) meeting demand
No risk of a second peak in the epidemic which overwhelms the NHS.
Whitty said the public should not expect the number of Covid-19 deaths to “fall away” suddenly.
He told the briefing: “It is important for people to fully understand that… even in those countries which started their epidemic curve earlier than in the UK, and which are still ahead, the downward slope from the point which we change is a relatively slow one.
“We should anticipate the same situation in the UK. We should not expect this to be a sudden fall away of cases.”
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-22--Welsh Minister Caught Dropping F-Bomb On Zoom Call After Leaving Mic On

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Wales appeared to be embroiled in the world’s first political scandal involving Zoom after the country’s health minister was caught swearing at a colleague when forgetting to mute his microphone.
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The Senedd, the country’s national assembly, has been holding its sessions via the video conferencing system as a result of coronavirus social distancing measures.
On Wednesday, health minister Vaughan Gething was being asked questions about the Welsh government’s response to the outbreak by Assembly Member Jenny Rathbone.
After he finished his contribution, Gething was heard off-camera talking about Rathbone, his Welsh Labour Party colleague.
He asked an unidentified person: “What the fuck is the matter with her?”
The presiding officer, Elin Jones, could then be heard saying: “I think Vaughan Gething needs to turn his microphone off. Vaughan Gething needs to turn his microphone off.”
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A number of assembly members could be seen laughing.
And the reactions, oh the reaction... pic.twitter.com/Tnzem4AJSI — Alain Tolhurst (@Alain_Tolhurst) April 22, 2020
The Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru called on Gething to resign and the Welsh Conservatives said he should be sacked.
The Welsh government has faced criticism for dropping their 5,000 daily testing target earlier this week.
Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price said: “He has not only failed over the last month several times, he has failed to acknowledge that he has failed and aggressively attacks even those within his own party who question him.
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“He does not have the right attitude, skills or temperament to lead the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“To maintain public confidence the first minister needs to relieve him of these responsibilities with immediate effect.”
Gething has since apologised to Rathbone for his remark.
He said: “I’m obviously embarrassed about my comments at the end of questions today.
“I’ve sent a message apologising and offered to speak to Jenny Rathbone if she wishes to do so.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-22--Watch Live: Dominic Raab Takes Questions At Daily Coronavirus Conference

Watch Live: Dominic Raab Takes Questions At Daily Coronavirus Conference
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab chairs the press briefing as the prime minister continues his recovery from coronavirus. It comes as the government announces that vaccine testing is due to start tomorrow.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-22--Can The UK Avoid A Second Coronavirus Peak When Lockdown Lifts?

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As things currently stand, there is only one way to avoid a second wave of the coronavirus outbreak in the UK – keep the lockdown measures in place until a vaccine is found.
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In practice, this would mean keeping restrictions as they are until at least the end of this year, or perhaps indefinitely – but with soaring unemployment, the prospect of economic depression and concerns about the general welfare of the population, this simply isn’t an option.
Professor Ravi Gupta, of the Cambridge Institute for Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease, told HuffPost UK: “All the economic analysis is showing we will need to do some kind of easing [of restrictions] in the relatively near future.
“We will then have to prepare for an increase in the number of cases.”
PA
What do we know about a second peak?
A more appropriate question right now is: how much do we know about coronavirus? The answer is: not very much.
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Because the disease is so new, scientists are still collecting data on a number of factors, which means making any predictions about how it will spread is extremely difficult.
For example, much has been said about the possible immunity of those who have already had the disease but this is still mostly based on assumptions – not enough time has elapsed since the first people recovered from the disease to know if, and for how long, they are immune.
Have we passed the first peak yet?
According to health secretary Matt Hancock, we are “at the peak” of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Speaking in the Commons during PMQs on Wednesday, he added: “I just want to thank everyone from across the country for their steadfast commitment in following the rules, including in this House.”
If Hancock is correct, cases of coronavirus can be expected to keep dropping, although deaths – which lag behind new infections – will still rise.
Reaching the peak is a milestone in the fight against the pandemic but is far from the end of the crisis and Hancock refused to specify what it would mean in terms of ending the lockdown.
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“It’s a question of degree,” he said.
“The fewer new cases, the more effective ‘test, track and trace’ are as a way of keeping the disease down, and therefore the more of the social distancing measures can be lifted.”
Can we avoid a second peak?
It’s a relatively safe bet that when the lockdown is eased, there will be more cases of coronavirus – though whether or not there will be enough to cause a second peak is still uncertain.
Much of it will depend on how the lockdown restrictions are lifted and what is done to track the virus.
“The size of a second peak is difficult to predict and will depend on the amount of social mixing that is permitted,” says Prof Gupta.
“It sounds like, with social distancing and use of masks, that you might expect the second peak to be smaller because people are going to be much more careful about contact.”
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Dr Peter English, a consultant in communicable disease control, told HuffPost UK technology would likely play a large role in managing the disease after the lockdown is lifted – but will mean everybody has to abide by a completely new set of rules.
“What you would need is a way of telling someone: ‘You have been in contact with a case – you must on pain of prosecution self-isolate for 14 days,’ and some system of making sure that happens,” he said.
Didn’t the government abandon contact tracing?
Yes, but it was being done manually in a very labour intensive way that became unsustainable as the number of cases grew.
Back in February a team of 400 Public Health England staff was on standby to trace those people who had been infected with the virus, but that was when there were only 36 confirmed cases.
There are now around 130,000.
Health secretary Matt Hancock told MPs last week contact tracing was part of the future strategy and would be introduced again, admitting that “it wasn’t possible when we had a small number of tests”.
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The government is hoping that a contact tracing app being developed by NHSX will enable larger-scale contact tracing and will “assist individuals to do contact tracing themselves”, Hancock said.
Why contact tracing must be our next national mission: my video today pic.twitter.com/0HNQECY1CM — Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) April 20, 2020
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt took to social media on Monday to say contact tracing “needs to be our next national mission” but also highlighted that not everyone can download an app.
On Thursday it was announced the government was seeking 300,000 people to take part in a new study tracking coronavirus in the population to try to understand the current rate of infection and how many have developed antibodies to the virus.
Some 20,000 households in England are being contacted to take part in the first-wave of the research, with initial findings expected in early May.
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How will the restrictions be lifted?
It’s almost certain it will be in a gradual fashion rather than all at once.
“It seems likely there will be ongoing restrictions once the strict lockdown we have now ends,” says Dr English.
“You can go to work and go to school but not have the clubs, pubs and sport venues running.”
This has already been mentioned by the government. Earlier this week Michael Gove confirmed pubs, restaurants and hotels will be among the last to reopen when the government relaxes lockdown.
The Cabinet Office minister said on Sunday ministers would make a “balanced judgement” about what changes could be made to the current social distancing measures.
Does the timing matter?
Yes, and not only because people want it to happen sooner rather than later.
“My personal view is that this should happen earlier and well before the winter flu period,” says Prof Gupta.
“Because what you don’t want is the huge issue of people having influenza and other viruses as well as Covid-19, it will make diagnosis and management very difficult.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-22--Olympian’s Mind-Blowing Waterless Swim Workout Goes Viral

No workout equipment at home? Russian swimmer Yuliya Efimova has a monster workout that only requires a kitchen counter and abs of steel.
The controversial three-time Olympic medalist uploaded a video of her “swim” drills out of the pool in april and reminded followers to stay home. The video was viewed more than 12 million times after it was shared on Twitter.
With a helper holding down her feet on the kitchen countertop, the athlete cycled through the breaststroke, freestyle, backstroke and most impressively, butterfly.
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Olympic swimmer Julia Evimova training at home. Unreal level of core strength 🤯
pic.twitter.com/WSwHHrbk2Y — 7Olympics (@7olympics) April 21, 2020
Efimova is known for her finger-wagging feud with American gold medalist Lilly King at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, over Efimova’s doping scandal.
Efimova served a 16-month ban from swimming in 2014 and 2015 after testing positive for a banned steroid. She failed another drug test in 2016, but was allowed to compete after a temporary suspension, because swimming governing body FINA deemed it unclear if she’d taken the supplement before it was banned.
Efimova was also the target of harsh criticism from competitors in Rio, who felt it was unfair that they were forced to compete against her. Her eligibility for the Tokyo games remains in question.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-22--UK Coronavirus Hospital Deaths Total Increases 759 In 24 Hours, Bringing Count To 18,100

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The number of people who have died in UK hospitals after contracting coronavirus has risen by 759 in 24 hours.
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It brings the total to 18,100 – an increase of 4% on yesterday’s revised total of 17,341. Health secretary Matt Hancock today told the Commons it was likely the UK was at the peak of the infection.
A hospital worker puts on personal protective equipment (PPE) to avoid being infected or transmitting coronavirus during a training session at the Nightingale Hospital North West in Manchester ASSOCIATED PRESS
Earlier on Wednesday, three of the four devolved authorities making up the UK had reported their own deaths totals: 665 in England, 77 in Scotland and 15 in Wales. Northern Ireland had yet to report after an error involving its new public-facing dashboard yesterday.
But the government total is unlikely to match the devolved authorities when Northern Ireland is eventually released. Here’s a quick primer on why the numbers do not match and how to interpret them.
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In England, 26 of the people who died had no known underlying health conditions. The nation’s 665 victims were aged 26 to 102.
Meanwhile, 22,814 tests were carried out, with 4,451 people testing positive in England, Scotland and Wales. That brings the UK total to 133,495.
How death rates among different British ethnic groups vary. Statista
This week, figures for the first time revealed how commonly people from different ethnic groups were dying in England’s hospitals, after concerns were raised that the disease was disproportionately claiming lives from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.
Sure enough, 5.8% of people who died were Black up to April 17 – compared with a smaller proportion of the population, 3.5%, who are Black.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-22--Starmer Backs Calls For Public To Wear Face Masks To Stop Covid-19 Spread

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Keir Starmer has backed calls for the government to formally recommend people wear face masks on transport and in workplaces where social distancing is difficult.
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In a significant ramping up of pressure on the government, the Labour leader’s spokesperson said ministers should urgently look at the issue as an extra weapon in the fight against the spread of Covid-19.
Masks wouldn’t stop wearers catching the virus, but could help those who have the disease and are “asymptomatic” from spreading it to others. Several countries including Germany are advising the public to wear masks.
Health secretary Matt Hancock and other ministers are due to meet on Thursday to decide whether to recommend the wearing of face-coverings in confined spaces on trains, buses and Tubes, as well as workplaces where the two-metre physical distancing advice is difficult to follow.
The government’s scientific advisory group on emergencies (Sage) met on Tuesday to discuss their latest advice on masks for the general public and The Sun revealed it had agreed on face coverings as a voluntary option.
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Deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van Tam has said that if there is any risk of taking mask supplies away from NHS and social care staff, that is “a line we are not going to cross”.
But a growing number of doctors believe that while surgical masks should be reserved just for frontline staff, other coverings like scarves, bandanas and makeshift masks made from t-shirts can offer extra ways to help stop the spread of the disease.
Starmer’s spokesperson pointed to the example of Germany, where the public are to be advised to wear masks as it comes out of lockdown.
“It’s becoming increasingly clear that other countries are looking at face masks as part of their responses to the virus,” he said.
“This is an issue that Sadiq Khan has raised, and Keir agrees with Sadiq that this needs to be a matter that the government should consider, based on scientific and medical advice.”
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London mayor Khan, Liverpool mayor Steve Rotheram and Tony Blair have all called for public mask-wearing as an extra measure.
The German state of Saxony has made masks compulsory in shops and on public transport, while Spain is giving them out to commuters.
The World Health Organisation points out that mask-wearing offers no extra protection but some doctors say it is useful for those who don’t realise they have the virus.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer speaking during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London. PA
Hancock refused to rule out new guidance when asked about the issue on Tuesday. “On the use of face masks we are advised by the science and we listen to what the scientists say.
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“There was a meeting of Sage [...] I look forward to hearing from that and then ministers making decisions based on the science.”
Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents hospital trusts, said: “Securing the supply of masks, when there is huge global demand, is crucial. This must be a key consideration.
“If the government is going to consider advising the general public to wear face masks it must fully assess the impact on the NHS.”
Starmer, who made his debut as Labour leader at Prime Minister’s Questions earlier, also supports calls by Manchester Metro Mayor Andy Burnham for all regions of the UK to ease the ‘lockdown’ at the same time.
“Andy is right, this i s a national criss and therefore requires a national response,” his spokesman said.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-22--Little Mix's Jade Thirlwall Has Us Howling As She Recreates Come Dine With Me's Most Iconic Scene

Guaranteed to cheer us up no matter what, the excruciating moment saw diner Peter tearing into his fellow contestants for voting him in fourth place, even telling one of them that they had “all the grace and decorum of a reversing dump truck”.
And now, to keep us all entertained during lockdown, Little Mix singer Jade Thirlwall has paid homage to one of our favourite TV moments of all time, armed with nothing but a load of wigs and Take A Break magazine off-shoot Take A Puzzle.
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Trust us, it’s every bit as amazing as it sounds.
In a clip posted on Twitter on Wednesday, Jade takes on the role of Peter, lip syncing along to his famous speech, before she’s then seen donning different wigs (which we have to assume she already had lying around the house) and playing the other key characters in the piece.
And as you can see, she pretty much nails it…
Incredible Twitter/Channel 4
But Jade isn’t the only member of Little Mix who has been having fun in lockdown, though.
Bandmate Perrie Edwards previously caused a stir when she and her boyfriend, Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, mastered some seriously impressive choreo over on TikTok.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-22--Eight Things You Need To Know About Coronavirus Today

Get the latest on coronavirus. Sign up to the Daily Brief for news, explainers, how-tos, opinion and more.
The state of Missouri is suing the Chinese government, an RAF plane loaded with PPE has finally returned to the UK from Turkey, and temperatures of 24C are expected in UK in the coming days.
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According to the latest figures:
The number of people who have died in hospitals in the UK has risen by 759 in 24 hours, bringing the total to 18,100.
The number of people who have tested positive in the UK reached 133,495.
22,814 tests were carried out on Tuesday, with the government under pressure to reach its target of 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of April.
Statista
Here are the latest developments on Covid-19:
Chris Whitty: ‘Return to normal life in 2020 is wholly unrealistic’
Chief medical officer Chris Whitty during a media briefing in Downing Street PA Video - PA Images via Getty Images
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Chris Whitty said the chances of either a vaccine or effective treatment being available in this “calendar year” were “incredibly small”.
And so the government’s effort must be focused on keeping the infection, or R, rate below one so that each person infected with Covid-19 passes it on to less than one other person on average.
A failure to do this could see the NHS overwhelmed and so there is only a “narrow” range of options available to ministers when considering how to ease the current lockdown, which will be reviewed again on May 7.
These include measures to balance Covid-19 deaths against deaths from other causes because the NHS is focusing on the virus, as well as analysing whether lockdowns can damage people’s mental and physical health, and whether the economic impact can also shorten lives.
Whitty told the daily Downing Street briefing: “This disease is not going to be eradicated, it is not going to disappear.
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“We have to accept that we are working with a disease that we are going to be with globally for the foreseeable future.”
He added: “If people are hoping it’s going to suddenly move from where we are now in lockdown suddenly into everything’s gone, that is a wholly unrealistic expectation.
“We are going to have to do a lot of things for really quite a long period of time, the question is what is the best package.”
Tesco to start testing shop workers for coronavirus
Customers queuing two metres apart outside the Tesco Express store on Tottenham Court Road, London EMPICS Entertainment
Tesco has said its shop workers will start receiving coronavirus tests this week as the government ramps up its testing efforts.
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In a letter to customers, chief executive Dave Lewis said Tesco will begin to trial testing for its workers in one region of the UK.
It is understood the voluntary testing will be available for around 200 staff and comes after talks between supermarket bosses and the government.
The supermarket added that the testing will only be “for critical workers currently experiencing symptoms or for those with symptoms who are living with critical workers”.
Tesco said that around 41,000 of its staff are absent each day, with the figure steadily falling.
It said it has recruited 50,000 temporary workers to plug the gap and keep operations running in recent weeks.
UK ‘at the peak’ of outbreak, says Matt Hancock
Health secretary Matt Hancock said today the UK was “at the peak” of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Speaking in the Commons during PMQs on Wednesday, he added: “I just want to thank everyone from across the country for their steadfast commitment in following the rules, including in this House.”
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If Hancock is correct, then cases of coronavirus can be expected to keep dropping, although deaths – which lag behind new infections as it takes time for people to get progressively sicker after infection – may still rise.
Reaching the peak is a milestone in the fight against the pandemic but is far from the end of the crisis.
Hancock went on to say the “test, track and trace” approach is a “critical” part of keeping the spread of the virus low, which in turn will allow the easing of lockdown restrictions.
Labour accuses government of ignoring British companies offering PPE
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer speaking during PMQs PA
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In his first PMQs as Labour leader Starmer said “something is going wrong” with the UK’s handling of the crisis.
Starmer was facing Dominc Raab, who is standing in for Boris Johnson while the prime minister recovers from Covid-19.
Labour said the firms who had “not received a reply” from the government included Issa Exchange Ltd in Birmingham, which had offered a quarter of a million aprons and masks; Network Medical Products in Ripon, which says it can provide 100,000 face visors a week; and CQM Learning, which says it can provide 8,000 face shields a day.
Starmer said: “A pattern is emerging here. We were slow into lockdown. Slow on testing. Slow on PPE. And now slow to take up these offers from British firms.”
Starmer also backed calls for the government to formally recommend people wear face masks on transport and in workplaces where social distancing is difficult.
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Masks wouldn’t stop wearers catching the virus, but could help those who have the disease and are “asymptomatic” from spreading it to others. Several countries including Germany are advising the public to wear masks.
Health secretary Matt Hancock will meet ministers on Thursday to decide whether to make the recommendation.
Police must not unfairly target ethnic minorities during lockdown, MPs warn
Priti Patel has been warned by MPs that police must not repeat the “problems of stop and search” by unfairly targeting ethnic minorities while enforcing the coronavirus lockdown.
In a letter to the home secretary seen by HuffPost UK, the cross-party group said while the emergency powers handed to police were “clearly necessary” to prevent the spread of the virus, civil liberties must not be “curtailed more than necessary”.
Last week police in England revealed they had issued 3,203 fines against people for breaching lockdown measures between March 27 and April 13.
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Men were overwhelmingly the worst offenders, accounting for 82% of cases.
The majority (60%) of offenders identified as white, 23% did not identify their ethnicity, 10% were Asian, 4% were Black and 2% were mixed race.
NHS staff recalled after coronavirus tests deemed ‘not up to scratch’
Some NHS staff already tested for coronavirus may have been given inaccurate results, social care minister Helen Whately has admitted.
She told Sky News those workers were being offered another Covid-19 test after their initial tests were decided to be “not up to scratch”.
Whately said: “My understanding from the clinical advisers is some of the early tests were evaluated and the evaluation was actually they weren’t effective enough.
“This is a normal process when you are using a test for an illness – which, as we know, is a new illness, and we’re learning all the time.
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“Those who were tested with the test that we think is not up to scratch have been written to, to let them know, and they will be offered another test.”
Earlier on BBC Radio 4′s Today programme, she defended the government’s efforts to acquire personal protective equipment (PPE) for health and care workers.
She said the government had been contacted by more than 8,000 potential suppliers and that ministers are concentrating on those with established supply chains.
“What the team is doing (...) is moving quickest on those who have the largest scale that they can supply because we need billions of items of PPE,” she said.
'Some of the early tests weren't effective enough.'
Care minister @Helen_Whately tells @skynewsniall those who received a test that was 'not up to scratch' will have been written to and will be offered a new test.
Latest #coronavirus: https://t.co/CEqAowmqNk #KayBurley pic.twitter.com/TviQcbCCdo — SkyNews (@SkyNews) April 22, 2020
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RAF plane loaded with PPE finally lands in UK
An RAF plane, believed to be carrying a delayed consignment of personal protective equipment (PPE) for NHS staff, has landed in the UK.
Flight tracker RadarBox showed the Airbus A400-M registered ZM416 depart Istanbul and land just after 3.30am on Wednesday at RAF Brize Norton, PA Media reports.
The plane had been dispatched from the Oxfordshire base, where two other planes are on stand-by to pick up further kit from Turkey, late on Monday.
It is not known if the consignment, which was ordered on Thursday and originally due to arrive on Sunday, includes 400,000 badly-needed surgical gowns.
The government has come in for mounting criticism over its failure to ensure NHS staff treating coronavirus patients have the protective equipment they need.
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Missouri becomes first state to sue China over coronavirus outbreak
The US state of Missouri has become the first to sue the Chinese government over its handling of the coronavirus, in a move critics say is yet another attempt to deflect attention from President Trump’s slow response to the crisis which has so far killed 43,000 Americans.
The civil lawsuit, filed in federal court by Missouri attorney general Eric Schmitt, alleges negligence, among other claims. The complaint alleges Missouri and its residents have suffered possibly tens of billions of dollars in economic damages and seeks cash compensation.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
“The Chinese government lied to the world about the danger and contagious nature of COVID-19, silenced whistleblowers, and did little to stop the spread of the disease,” Schmitt, a Republican, said in a statement. “They must be held accountable for their actions.”
The lawsuit also accuses the Chinese government of making the pandemic worse by “hoarding” masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE).
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According to lawyers consulted by Reuters, the lawsuits are highly likely to fail.
A legal doctrine called sovereign immunity offers foreign governments broad protection from being sued in US courts, said Tom Ginsburg, a professor of international law at the University of Chicago.
Ginsburg also said he thought the recent flurry of lawsuits against China serve a political end for Republican leaders facing an election in November.
“We are seeing a lot of people on the political right focus on the China issue to cover up for the US government’s own errors,” he said.