thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-17--99 Little Things We Cannot Wait To Do When This Is All Over

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If there’s one positive that has come out of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s that we’ve learned to appreciate the little things in life.
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Ask people what they’re looking forward to most after lockdown ends and the answers usually involve family, friends and small comforts we previously took for granted. The latest iPhone or a blowout shopping spree? Not so much.
And Professor Robert Emmons, known as the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude, previously told HuffPost UK this is the best way to boost positivity right now. It’s called gratitude forecasting – “Imagine how grateful you will be when life returns to normal,” he said. “Consider simple pleasures you are currently deprived of, and then visualise experiencing those once again.”
We don’t know when things will “return to normal”, but when they do, man, will it feel sweet. In no particular order, here are 99 things to look forward to – you might not relate to all of them, but we’re sure you’ll smile at some. Bookmark it for those difficult days and remember, small joys are coming in a big way.
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1. Ordering a barista-made coffee.
2. That first big family meal. And many, many more.
3. Seeing the familiar faces of commuters who always get on your carriage.
4. Breathing in that fresh scent as you walk through a garden centre.
5. Hugging a loved one, for a really, really long time.
6. A trip to your nearest beach on a hot, sunny day.
7. Shaking the hand of, or sharing a meal with, a newly-befriended neighbour.
8. Going for an impromptu drink after work.
9. Hearing an ice cream van approaching.
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10. Watching live sport, and hearing the roar of fellow fans.
11. A normal working day in the office (who would have thought it?).
12. Sharing a dessert, without thinking twice.
13. Hearing kids at a local primary school enjoying playtime outside.
14. Travelling, whether that’s abroad or just to the next town over.
15. Seeing your nieces and nephews and squeezing them extra tight.
16. Playing on a swing in the park, whatever your age.
17. ‘Popping’ to the shops – just because.
18. Carefully turning the page of a delicate library book.
19. A proper pint, not from a can or bottle.
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20. Hearing a street busker play Wonderwall.
21. Borrowing a top from a mate.
22. Getting your favourite top back from a mate.
23. Offering to do the office tea round.
24. Answering the hairdresser who asks: “Is that temperature okay?”
25. Trying lipstick samples on the back of your hand.
26. Buying fruit that’s “two for a pound” from a market trader.
27. Taking your kids to the park.
28. Playing your team sport again.
29. Making the “oooh new haircut” noise at colleagues.
30. Catching up with the staff at your favourite local restaurant.
31. Rebooking the holidays you missed with a new sense of appreciation.
32. Listening to a podcast on your commute.
33. Sitting in the park in shorts, whatever the weather.
34. Being reunited with pets that are currently ‘home home’.
35. Camping, thanks to your new love of the outdoors.
36. Scoffing popcorn at the cinema.
37. Singing with strangers, at the football, choir, church or karaoke.
38. Hearing the bartender ask: “Is that a single, or double?”
39. Smelling chlorine as you near a swimming pool.
40. Getting a gel manicure.
41. The smugness of being early to things.
42. All of those postponed weddings.
43. Dancing until sunrise.
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44. A bike ride with no purpose.
45. Racing your mates to the front row, top deck of the bus.
46. Using the outdoor gym in your local park on a warm day.
47. Silently cheering on a learner driver from your car.
48. Going out for brunch. Bottomless, of course.
49. Leaning into a sibling as you laugh like big kids.
50. Ordering food from a food truck.
51. Finding an excuse to buy a lilo.
52. Brushing off the crumbs after a Greggs vegan sausage roll.
53. Cloud spotting in the park.
54. Asking someone tall to reach the top shelf at the supermarket.
55. Visiting your grandparents and treasuring each moment.
56. Flirting with a complete stranger. In person.
57. Ordering a takeaway and saying: “Keep the change”.
58. Spontaneously seeing friends, because you can.
59. Diving into cold, open water.
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60. Trying to memorise the “specials board” at the pub.
61. Feeling the sea mist against your skin.
62. Fitness classes – well, at least for the first week.
63. Picnicking with your favourite people.
64. Tickling a loved one’s baby until they giggle.
65. Booking a babysitter, if you’ve been at home with the kids for weeks.
66. Rubbing shoulders with complete strangers at a gig.
67. Taking your dog on an extravagant two walks a day.
68. Smelling the distinct scent of McDonald’s.
69. The tombola at a naff village fête.
70. Reading in a coffee shop, among fellow readers.
71. Asking the taxi driver: “So, has it been busy tonight?”.
72. Buying The Big Issue from a Big Issue seller.
73. Tear and share garlic bread.
74. Going to an actual pub quiz.
75. Dating apps when there’s a chance of a face-to-face date.
76. That fresh, post-dentist feeling.
77. Fish and chips, done the proper way.
78. Kissing goodbye to your dye roots.
79. Admiring the skyline from a rooftop bar.
80. Treating yourself to a massage.
81. Hosting a dinner party (who cares if the food’s good?).
82. Sex with that someone you don’t live with.
83. Your go-to shop bought lunch (oh hey Pret).
84. Trying a friend’s drink like it’s NBD.
85. Finding bargains in charity shops.
86. Gesturing for a stranger to share your bench.
87. Enjoying a takeaway tea on a stroll.
88. Appreciating the gym in a whole new light.
89. Escaping from a too-tight outfit in the changing room.
90. High-fiving at any excuse.
91. Going to your pal’s actual birthday party, rather than a virtual one.
92. Petting random cats in the street.
93. Asking a friend to text you when they get home, knowing they’ll forget.
94. Tinnies on a hot day.
95. Window shopping, through actual windows.
96. Planning the most epic Halloween/Bonfire Night/Christmas ever.
97. Crying with laughter at a stand-up gig.
98. Being close enough to do the awkward “I’ll go this way” dance when someone comes towards you on the pavement.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-17--London Bus Passengers Told: No Need To Pay – Just Stay Away From The Driver

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Get the latest on coronavirus. Sign up to the Daily Brief for news, explainers, how-tos, opinion and more.
Bus passengers in London will not have to pay for travel under new measures to protect drivers.
Transport for London (TfL) announced that customers “will not be required to touch in” with their payment card or device from Monday.
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This is to avoid passengers approaching the driver’s cab, where all buses have a card reader.
London mayor Sadiq Khan announced on Monday that 21 transport workers, including 16 bus workers, have died in the capital after testing positive for Covid-19.
A south London bus driver identified only as Lorraine, 62, said last week in an online video that she is “proud to do her job” but “frightened to die” as she begged the government to do more to help protect transport staff. Transport workers had previously told HuffPost UK they had felt disregarded in the fight against the virus.
Bus travel in the capital normally costs £1.50 for unlimited journeys within an hour, up to a maximum of £4.50 per day.
The temporary decision to tell passengers they no longer need to pay coincides with the decision to keep the front doors of buses shut – meaning people will board only through the middle doors.
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TfL said a pilot scheme for middle door boarding had showed passengers could “keep a safe distance” when entering and leaving because demand for bus travel is 85% lower than normal.
Londoners have been told only to use public transport for essential journeys.
Other safety measures include discouraging the use of seats near drivers, covering the holes in their protective screens with clear film, and a rigorous cleaning regime.
TfL’s director of bus operations, Claire Mann, said: “Bus drivers are pivotal in ensuring critical workers like NHS staff and grocery workers can perform the vital roles they do during this national emergency.
“Their efforts are nothing short of heroic, and it is essential that we leave no stone unturned when looking to protect them.
“Extending middle-door only boarding across the bus network will add another layer of protection on top of the other robust safeguards in place.
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“Even with these significant safety enhancements, I would like to remind Londoners to stay at home to ensure that critical workers and London’s bus drivers can get around the city safely.”
Pete Kavanagh, regional secretary at trade union Unite, which campaigned for front-door boarding to be banned across the whole of London, said: “This is a very welcome move and we are very relieved that TfL is listening to Unite and its members.
“We have lost members of our bus family in recent days and we refuse to lose any more.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-17--Kate Garraway’s Husband In ‘Deeply Critical Condition’ But Good Morning Britain Star Says ‘There Is

Kate Garraway’s Husband In ‘Deeply Critical Condition’ But Good Morning Britain Star Says ‘There Is Hope’

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Kate Garraway has revealed that her husband Derek Draper is still in a “deeply critical condition” in intensive care after contracting coronavirus.
The Good Morning Britain presenter gave an update on his condition on Thursday evening as she joined the nation in clapping for the country’s carers.
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The star praised NHS staff for “keeping her husband alive”, adding “he is still here, which means there is hope”.
Kate Garraway with her husband Derek Draper Rex
Writing on Instagram, Kate said: “From the bottom of my heart a billion thank yous to the extraordinary #nhsworkers whose skills, dedication and downright guts in the face of so much personal risk, are keeping my Derek alive, just as they are doing for thousands of covid patients.
“I’m afraid he is still in a deeply critical condition, but he is still here, which means there is hope. Sending so much love and support to the thousands who have had that hope for their loved ones stolen by this hideous disease.
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“You are not alone and I hope that helps give you strength to withstand the torture of grief.”
She added: “Thank you, too, to my own little band of ‘key workers’, the neighbours who let off fireworks tonight for the #nhs, gave the Easter bunny a helping hand to make life feel a bit more normal for Darcey & Billy, those who have dropped off food, and friends family and all of you who have sent messages of love and support. It’s such a comfort. We must all stand together.”
The daytime presenter’s husband, a former political aide to then-Labour cabinet minister Peter Mandelson, was admitted to hospital on 30 March.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-17--Nine 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.
Wuhan has raised its death toll by 50% as a result of “belated, missed and mistaken reporting”, it has been revealed.
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The latest figures show:
As of 5pm on Thursday, 14,576 people had died in UK hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus – an increase of 847 in 24 hours.
More than 21,000 coronavirus tests were carried out in England, Scotland and Wales on Thursday, with nearly 5,600 people testing positive.
In total, 108,692 people have tested positive for coronavirus in those three nations.
Here’s the latest:
Government furlough scheme extended until end of June
The government’s furlough scheme has been extended by another month until the end of June, the chancellor has confirmed.
Rishi Sunak said the decision had been made in light of the continued social distancing measures which were extended for a further three weeks on Thursday.
The scheme, which allows firms to furlough employees with the government paying cash grants of 80% of their wages up to a maximum of £2,500 a month, was originally open for three months and backdated from March 1 to the end of May.
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Sunak, said: “We’ve taken unprecedented action to support jobs and businesses through this period of uncertainty, including the UK-wide Job Retention Scheme. With the extension of the coronavirus lockdown measures yesterday, it is the right decision to extend the furlough scheme for a month to the end of June to provide clarity.
“It is vital for people’s livelihoods that the UK economy gets up and running again when it is safe to do so, and I will continue to review the scheme so it is supporting our recovery.”
Don’t go booking any summer holidays yet
Downing Street suggested summer holidays should not be booked yet as there is no certainty of when the lockdown will be lifted and travel can resume.
The prime minister’s official spokesman was asked during a Westminster briefing about Transport Secretary Grant Shapps’ comments that he has no plans to book a summer holiday yet because of the pandemic.
The spokesman said: “While we are making progress in our fight against coronavirus, we are not able to say with certainty the point at which the social distancing measures can be relaxed and in terms of travelling within the United Kingdom for holidays, that is not something which the current social distancing guidelines allow for.
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“And secondly, in terms of travel abroad, the advice of the Foreign Office continues to be that you should go abroad for essential travel only.
“As of today, it is a fact that both the guidelines and the official Foreign Office advice do not allow for people going on holidays.”
More confusion over coronavirus testing capacity
Health secretary Matt Hancock on Friday told a Commons health and social care committee there is currently capacity for 30,000 coronavirus tests.
The figure is at odds with the Downing Street statement on Thursday which stated there is capacity for 35,000 tests – and criticism that fewer than half that number are actually being carried out.
Hancock said there is currently capacity for 10,000 more tests to be carried out than currently are, but did not elaborate on the discrepancy between the figures he provided and the Downing Street number.
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“We have capacity for 10,000 more tests a day than we did yesterday which I find, given the pressures on testing, is frustrating,” he said.
He also announced that testing will be expanded to those in the police, fire service and prisons, as well as critical local authority workers, the judiciary and Department for Work and Pensions staff where required.
Hancock confirmed to the committee that more than 50,000 NHS workers have now been tested for coronavirus.
Further waves of coronavirus will hit Britain, leading doctor warns
Britain will face “further waves” of coronavirus and will probably have the highest death rate in Europe because the government was “too slow” to act, a leading physician has warned.
Professor Anthony Costello, of University College London’s Institute for Global Health, told the same committee of MPs that the “harsh reality” is that “we were too slow with a number of things”.
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“If we’re going to suppress the chain of transmission of this virus in the next stage we all hope that the national lockdown and social distancing will bring about a large suppression of the epidemic so far – but we’re going to face further waves,” he said.
“And so we need to make sure that we have a system in place that cannot just do a certain number of tests in the laboratory, but has a system at district and community level.”
Prof Costello said we “should not have any blame at this stage” but that “we can make sure in the second wave we’re not too slow”.
1966 England defender and Leeds United ‘icon’ Norman Hunter dies aged 76 after contracting coronavirus
Former England and Leeds defender Norman Hunter has died aged 76.
Hunter, who made 28 appearances for the Three Lions and was part of the 1966 World Cup lineup prior to the final, was last week admitted to hospital with the coronavirus.
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In a statement, Leeds United said the club was “devastated to learn of the passing of club legend Norman Hunter at the age of 76”.
“He leaves a huge hole in the Leeds United family, his legacy will never be forgotten and our thoughts are with Norman’s family and friends at this very difficult time.”
London bus passengers told: No need to pay – just stay away from the driver
A sign reading "doors out of use" is pictured on the front doors of a Transport for London (TfL) bus. GLYN KIRK via Getty Images
Bus passengers in London will not have to pay for travel under new measures to protect drivers.
Transport for London (TfL) announced that customers “will not be required to touch in” with their payment card or device from Monday. This is to avoid passengers approaching the driver’s cab, where all buses have a card reader.
Passengers will also only be allowed to board London’s buses using the middle door in the new pandemic measure announced by TfL.
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The changes follow concerns due to the 16 bus workers in the capital who have died after testing positive to Covid-19. Transport workers had told HuffPost UK they had felt disregarded in the fight against the virus.
Sadiq Khan told BBC Breakfast said other measures, including protective glass and anti-viral cleaning went “above and beyond” expert advice.
He said: “It’s heartbreaking, I’ve had 16 bus drivers who have lost their lives, it’s personal to me. It’s really heartbreaking and my condolences to those families.
“I’m confident working with the excellent trade unions, we’ve made sure our public transport is as safe as it can be for both passengers and also our staff as well, who deserve a huge credit for keeping public transport running in these difficult times.”
Wuhan raises coronavirus death toll raised by 50%
The central Chinese city was the first epicentre of the outbreak. Stringer . / Reuters
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Officials in Wuhan have revised the coronavirus death toll by 50%, increasing the number of fatalities by 1,290 and bringing the total to 3,869.
State media reported on Friday that the undercount was due to admission facilities at hospitals being overwhelmed during the peak of the crisis.
The number of total cases in the city of 11m people was also raised by 325 to 50,333, accounting for approximately two-thirds of China’s total 82,367 announced cases. The official Xinhua News Agency quoted an unidentified official within Wuhan’s epidemic and prevention and control headquarters as saying that, “due to the insufficiency in admission and treatment capability, a few medical institutions failed to connect with the disease prevention and control system in time, while hospitals were overloaded and medics were overwhelmed with patients. “As a result, belated, missed and mistaken reporting occurred,” the official was quoted as saying. Questions have long swirled around the accuracy of China’s case reporting, with Wuhan in particular going several days in January without reporting new cases or deaths – leading to accusations that officials were seeking to minimise the impact of the outbreak. Meanwhile, it emerged on Friday that China’s economy had shrunk for the first time since records began in 1992, as a result of coronavirus. Gross domestic product (GDP) fell 6.8% in January-March year-on-year, official data showed on Friday, slightly larger than the 6.5% decline forecast by analysts and reversing a 6% expansion in the fourth quarter of last year. Covid-19 home testing kits delivered by Amazon ‘being piloted this week’
The Times reported that the deliveries are being piloted this week. JUSTIN TALLIS via Getty Images
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A pilot scheme of home deliveries for coronavirus tests is being carried out by Amazon this week, it has been reported.
According to The Times, Amazon logistics is beginning to send swabs to people’s homes with instructions to take a sample from their throats before the kits are picked up.
Results are reportedly returned by text message, with hopes for the entire process to take fewer than 24 hours.
The tests are separate from unsuccessful attempts to delivery an antibody test.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-17--Coronavirus Holds A Magnifying Glass To America’s Inequalities And The View Is Brutal

As the coronavirus bears down on the world, it is casting brutal light on societies’ biggest weak points and failings, from structural racism and extreme inequality to waning trust and the deterioration of the public sphere. The pandemic may offer the last warning ― and our best opportunity ― to begin repairing those fractures before an even bigger stress hits.
The looming dangers of climate change mean rising seas, powerful storms, frequent wildfires, floods and droughts that are likely to bring tests even more painful than COVID-19.
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“The pandemic is showing us our vulnerabilities,” including supply chains built for profit rather than resilience and disparities that have left African Americans suffering disproportionately high death rates, said Elizabeth Sawin, co-director of the think tank Climate Interactive. “People who study climate change have long been saying exactly the same thing ― that it reveals to us the fault lines of our society, who’s disposable and who’s not.”
A man wearing a mask passes a mural on April 13, 2020 in New York City. JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images
As the virus gallops around the globe, it is intersecting with the biggest issues many nations were already grappling with. In China, it collided early on with limits on free expression, as political leaders sought to silence doctors raising the alarm about a mysterious new ailment. In Britain, COVID-19 has provided vivid evidence of how a decade of state-shrinking austerity has affected the National Health Service and local authorities responsible for elder care and other social support.
But perhaps nowhere has the gap between self-image and reality been more starkly on display than in the United States, a superpower whose preparedness and capacity to cope with the crisis have proven stunningly inadequate. COVID-19’s rapid spread across America has laid bare a bevvy of failures that had festered for decades, if not longer.
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Its most direct hit has been on the health care system, whose shortcomings have long been apparent. The limitations of a system that ties insurance coverage to employment are coming into even sharper focus as millions lose their jobs.
Eddie Rodriguez, who works for the city of Hialeah, Florida, hands out unemployment applications on April 08, 2020. Joe Raedle via Getty Images
People who lost their jobs wait in line to file for unemployment following the coronavirus outbreak, at an Arkansas Workforce Center in Fort Smith, Arkansas, April 6, 2020. Nick Oxford / Reuters
Decentralisation has been another critical weakness, making coordination difficult and pitting hospitals against one another in the scramble for supplies and equipment, said Robert Yates, director of the Global Health Program at Chatham House, a London-based research centre.
“It’s exposed the market failures of a privately financed health care system,” he said.
The inability to quickly ramp up testing squandered any chance to detect and contain the virus before it spread out of control. Early reports of people being billed thousands of dollars for testing were clear indicators of the absurdity of the system’s incentives, Yates said.
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Now, a continued shortfall of tests threatens to slow the return of economic activity, because scientists say widespread testing is essential for preventing the virus from roaring back when restrictions are lifted. Similarly, a lack of basic protective equipment for medical staff is putting patients and caretakers at risk.
“Disparities in testing and treatment ... have mapped right onto the nation’s existing racial and economic divides.”
Such failings are symptoms of a political ideology that denigrates the public sector and venerates profit above all, said Steven Cohen, director of sustainability policy research at Columbia University’s Earth Institute.
“It starts with Ronald Reagan in 1980 saying the government is the problem,” Cohen said. “We’ve now had four decades of disinvestment in public sector everything. So the infrastructure’s crumbling in all the different kinds of systems we have.”
It reflects an “extreme focus on the market and individual wealth,” said Cohen, “and not enough focus on what do we as a community need to have to protect ourselves, and what does that require us to invest in ― whether its mass transit or more resilient infrastructure to deal with climate change, or having enough capacity when a new virus emerges.”
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A person wearing a PPE suit exits the Elmhurst Hospital center as the outbreak of the coronavirus continues in Queens in New York, April 5, 2020. Eduardo Munoz / Reuters
Health care workers at Mount Sinai Hospital hold photos of sick colleagues during a protest demanding critical personal protective equipment to handle patients during the outbreak coronavirus disease outbreak, in New York City on April 3, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
It’s as true within the health care system as the larger society. Insurers and government funders see excess capacity ― whether in supplies or staffing ― as wasteful, and punish hospitals for it, Cohen said. But, “guess what we just found out: It doesn’t hurt to have a few excess beds.”
Within that dysfunctional system, disparities in testing and treatment ― like many of COVID-19’s multilayered effects ― have mapped right onto the nation’s existing racial and economic divides, said Jamila Taylor, a senior fellow and director of health care reform at The Century Foundation in Washington.
Chilling evidence comes from data showing the disease is disproportionately killing African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans and other people of colour. That disparate impact is sharpest for African Americans.
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A Washington Post analysis found infection rates were three times higher ― and death rates almost six times higher ― in majority-Black counties than in majority-white ones. In Louisiana, where African Americans make up 32% of the population, 70% of COVID-19 deaths are Black people. In Chicago, they are 32% of the population and 67% of virus deaths; in Michigan, 14% of the population and 42% of deaths.
“We love to blame the sick for their health challenges, particularly when it comes to people of colour,” but in fact, the disparity stems from a multitude of interconnected causes tied to the impact of inequality and structural racism, Taylor said.
Gig economy workers ― drivers, delivery people, home health care aides ― “are really highly exposed,” said Juliet Schor, a sociology professor at Boston College. “They have to take risks because they need the money.”
Those workers, and others who are unable to stay at home, in essential sectors such as transit, cleaning, and groceries, are more likely to be people of colour.
Personal care assistant Maria Colville leaves for work from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to care for a woman on March 26, 2020. Lane Turner/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
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A delivery worker rides past a Rolls Royce amid the coronavirus pandemic on April 5, 2020 in New York City. John Lamparski via Getty Images
African Americans are also more likely to have preexisting medical conditions that heighten the risks of the coronavirus. That itself is rooted in racism, driven by factors such as disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards like air pollution, the stress of living with discrimination and poverty, and inadequate health coverage, said Harriet Washington, author of ”Medical Apartheid” and “A Terrible Thing to Waste: Environmental Racism and Its Assault on the American Mind.”
African Americans also suffer discriminatory treatment within the medical system, particularly when doctors or administrators make subjective decisions with little scrutiny, Washington said.
Such problems are likely to be exacerbated as the pandemic overwhelms hospitals, Washington warned. Extreme circumstances “put great pressure on already compromised systems, and people of colour tend to be the fault lines,” she said.
She’s particularly worried about discussion of hospitals adopting do-not-resuscitate policies for COVID-19 patients, intended to prevent medical teams from being exposed to the virus while trying to revive those unlikely to survive. Given a history of unequal treatment, she said, “it’s a disaster waiting to happen for African Americans.”
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“People of colour tend to be the fault lines.”
Even following the federal recommendation to wear a face mask in public can be fraught for people of colour.
“I, a Black man, cannot walk into a store with a bandana covering the greater part of my face if I also expect to walk out of that store,” Aaron Thomas, of Columbus, Ohio, wrote in the Boston Globe. “For me, the fear of being mistaken for an armed robber or assailant is greater than the fear of contracting COVID-19.”
Racial disparities are not unique to America. Research shows Black and Asian Britons are also disproportionately suffering coronavirus complications and death. And a study found members of the Roma ethnic group in Spain, working in informal jobs like street vending, scrap collecting and farm work, are at risk of extreme financial hardship and virus-driven stereotyping.
Also exposed by ― and exacerbating ― the COVID crisis in America is the deterioration in the quality of public discourse and a rejection of objective realities.
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“Your facts vs. my facts,” said Andrew Hoffman, a professor of sustainable enterprise at the University of Michigan. “We have denigrated expertise across the board, whether it’s expertise in scientific institutions or expertise in policy institutions. We don’t trust government.”
The consequences are painful. If political leaders had listened to scientists, “we wouldn’t be on lockdown right now,” Cohen said. “The same people who didn’t believe in climate change ― they thought it was a belief, as opposed to a fact ― they thought the coronavirus was like the flu.”
Anti-government views are particularly strong in the South, where Republican governors have for years declined to expand Medicaid, and some have delayed issuing stay-at-home orders to curb the viral spread. Taylor said she feared that leaves the virus poised to sweep through the region, and to exact a steep toll among its large African American population.
That tragic dynamic is already playing out in Louisiana, where COVID-19 is reopening some of the wounds Hurricane Katrina inflicted in 2005. That storm and its traumatic aftermath, of course, offered a stark demonstration of the brutal impact extreme weather can have on communities of colour and the poor. So did Hurricane Harvey, when it battered Houston in 2017.
Those experiences may foreshadow a future in which climate change intensifies storms. “That is a cause for alarm,” Taylor said.
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Like climate change, “COVID-19 is a threat multiplier,” said Matthew Henry, scholar in residence at the University of Wyoming’s Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources. “People are already struggling and COVID-19 makes it worse.”
And if the two pressures overlap, things may get even more dire. Should the pandemic still be raging when the hurricane and wildfire seasons hit this summer, “What happens when people are displaced and are confined to massive shelters?” Henry asked. “That could exacerbate the spread” of the virus.
This month has already seen severe storms sweep over the South, killing at least 30 people and leaving over 1 million homes and businesses without power.
Emma Pritchett in her roofless kitchen on April 13, 2020, the day after a tornado hit, in Chatsworth, Georgia. AP Photo/Brynn Anderson
Sky Kriner, 5, looks on after a tornado hit in Chatsworth, Georgia. AP Photo/Brynn Anderson
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Flooding in the Midwest may come next. And wildfires bring an additional danger. As they have worsened in recent years, summertime smoke has pushed air pollution to frightening levels across the West. That is unhealthy at any time. With a respiratory illness running rampant, the risks are amplified.
Such crises are likely to grow more frequent as the effects of decades of carbon emissions play out.
“We expect more and stronger shocks from climate change,” Sawin said. “If we haven’t created a more equitable society, with better ways of sharing risks and burdens, then we’re going to continue to see those with the least power experience the most impact.”
The upheaval created by COVID-19 and its economic aftermath could offer the chance to change course.
“The best, most hopeful response is centered on what the whole purpose of an economy is: Human well-being, collective well-being, rather than maximising profits for a small number of people and corporations.”
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For starters, it might remind Americans of the value of a well-functioning public sector. “It’s a very stark experience of how important government is,” Schor said. “You see how quickly so many of these right-wing ideas just evaporate in the current context,” such as opposition to public spending or direct financial support for individuals.
It is clear in particular that the federal government must boost its disaster response capacity, to prepare for a future where multiple crises hit at once, Cohen said. “But that means we have to pay for it, and that means people are going to have to pay higher taxes.”
To Sawin’s mind, changes like better protections for workers, or universal health care and child care, would not only ease the pain of future pandemics, climate impacts and other economic shocks but also smooth the transition away from fossil fuels.
It could start with targeting pandemic recovery stimulus to help the most marginalised and address other problems, too. A model, Sawin said, was funding in President Barack Obama’s financial crisis stimulus package in 2009 to insulate low-income families’ homes, helping them save money on heating while also reducing carbon emissions and providing jobs.
Of course, it’s far from clear such changes will happen. Those invested in the status quo would rather dismiss the pandemic as an aberrant event that need not trigger big changes, Hoffman said. President Donald Trump and his Republican allies are pushing to cast blame for the viral outbreak ― on China, or the World Health Organization.
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“If they can make that narrative stick, this is just a standard problem of international politics,” Hoffman said. “It’s critical that this event get framed in the right way so that the solutions emerge from the framing.”
A choice lies ahead, Sawin said. Address the stark realities the pandemic has brought to light, or “not look too deep under the surface, keep hoping for that old normal where we were comfortable ― even if we sort of know that not everyone is comfortable.”
At a time of overwhelming and disorienting disruption, she said she saw a chance to change course, by focusing on the big picture.
“The best, most hopeful response is centred on what the whole purpose of an economy is,” Sawin said. “Human well-being, collective well-being, rather than maximizing profits for a small number of people and corporations.”
“If that is the North Star, then that gives us the road map to recovery.”
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-17--Too Hot To Handle On Netflix Is Here To Give Love Island Fans Some Much-Needed Reality And Romance

With the majority of us confined to our houses for the foreseeable future, the need for brilliant TV has never been greater, especially at the weekends.
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That’s why HuffPost UK has launched Something For The Weekend – a weekly feature recommending one series for you to devour when you haven’t even got work to occupy your mind.
This week, our entertainment editor Ash Percival is bringing you a massive dose of reality, as Netflix’s “new Love Island” debuts on the streaming service...
The cast of Too Hot To Handle Aline Arruda/Netflix
I don’t know about you, but right now I’ve never missed the halcyon days of summer 2018 more.
Between the mix of the sweltering weather, England actually doing well in the World Cup and an absolutely banging series of Love Island, as a nation, we’d never had it so good.
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That’s why in recent weeks, I’ve turned to rewatching old series of the ITV2 dating show on BritBox as a way of coping with being stuck indoors as temperatures begin to raise outside.
Now, as much as I’ve loved revisiting some golden reality TV moments (*that* Brexit chat really is a reminder of simpler times), sometimes there’s nothing quite like sinking your teeth into something new. But with the summer series of Love Island still up in the air due to the coronavirus pandemic, who knows when a new bunch of Islanders will be moving into the villa for six weeks of cracking on and pie-ing off?
That’s why the release of Netflix’s new dating show, Too Hot To Handle could not be more perfectly timed.
So, what’s it about?
Hot on the heels of the streaming service’s recent hit Love Is Blind, this new US series has been making waves on social media after its trailer debuted.
It’s already drawn comparisons to Love Island given that it sees 10 young, hot singles come together to live in a tropical paradise, for what they think will be a the most most exotic and erotic summer of their lives.
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However, as the name suggests, there’s one big twist with Too Hot To Handle – the contestants will actually have to give up all hanky panky for the entirety of their stay if they want to be in with a chance of winning the $100,000 cash prize.
The contestants have been chosen for being known commitment-phobes who enjoy casual hook-ups, which is why they are going to find the house rules of “no kissing, no heavy petting, and no self-gratification of any kind” very hard, if you catch our drift.
The aim of the game is for the singles to find deeper emotional connections with one another, but should they find themselves breaking the rules, it’s going to cost them, as the prize fund will start decreasing...
What are the cast like?
Unusually, the contestants come from locations across the globe, including Austria, Ireland, the UK, America, Australia and Canada – but they are also the usual mix of models, influencers, personal trainers and sports players Love Island fans have come to expect.
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The two British contestants are Essex girl Chloe, a self-confessed heartbreaker who was once asked to be in a South Korean girlband, and London-based David, who is a semi-professional rugby player.
They’ll be joined by Canadian Francesca, who once dated DJ and music producer Diplo; Haley, a business student from Florida who says she is open to building a connection with a boy or a girl; “cheeky chappy” Harry from Australia, who says he turns into a “disco queen” after a couple of drinks; Austrian-born Kelz who is a recruitment consultant now based in London; and former America’s Next Top Model wannabe Matthew, who says he’s a “deep thinker with a spiritual outlook”.
There’s also Irish girl Nicole, who has worked on yachts hosting Kanye West, Jay-Z and Justin Bieber; Rhonda from Atlanta, who says she’s bored of the dating scene; and Sharron, a personal trainer and kids wrestling coach from New Jersey.
What’s been said about it?
Time magazine called Too Hot To Handle “unabashedly trashy” but “also weirdly perfect for right now”, with TV Line echoing it was the “perfect guilty pleasure for these quarantimes”
Vulture also warned readers it is about to become their next “trashy Netflix reality obsession”.
However, Entertainment Weekly was slightly less complimentary, describing it as a “criminally boring slog”, which we think is perhaps a little harsh.
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You’ll like this if you’ve already enjoyed...
Love Island, Ex On The Beach, The Bachelor, Love Is Blind, Temptation Island, Big Brother.
So where can I watch it?


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-17--The Subtle Ways Your Kid Is Trying To Show You Their Coronavirus Anxiety

MoMo Productions via Getty Images Kids do not necessarily come right out and tell parents and caregivers if they're feeling anxious or upset.
The coronavirus has changed daily life dramatically for millions of children. Life is different now. It’s heavy and stressful in so many ways, and more than one-third of adults say the pandemic has had a serious impact on their mental health. Even young kids pick up on that.
“This is a very stressful time,” Rachel Busman, senior director of the Child Mind Institute’s Anxiety Disorders Center, told HuffPost. “And it’s unlike anything we have ever experienced.”
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But children don’t always express their emotional challenges in the ways adults expect. Here are five potential signs of distress that mental health experts say parents should be on the lookout for.
They’re snapping at you.
“Children, especially younger ones, are very intuitive and perceptive, so if the grown-ups in their lives are upset or feeling anxiety ― whether they’ve lost their job, or feel stressed or anxious due to isolation and working from home ― children will pick this up and feel it too,” said Denise Daniels, a child development expert and creator of The Moodsters, who recently authored a free workbook to help children cope with Covid-19.
Irritability can be a sign that they’re grappling with feelings of fear and anxiety, Daniels added. So if they’re snapping at you a lot more often or they’re generally kind of testy or angry, that’s something to track.
Overall, Busman emphasised that it is important for parents to tune into the frequency of behaviours. Your kid will have tough moments, hours and days — and you can expect them to feel stressed, anxious and bored, which are very normal reactions to this very abnormal situation. But if you notice more sustained changes, that’s a sign something could be really off.
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If you feel like your kiddo may be struggling a bit, see if they’ll spend a few minutes listing some of the changes in their life, Daniels suggests in her Covid-19 workbook. Or see if they want to jot down (or verbally ask you) any questions they have about what’s happening in the world and their lives right now.
They’re falling back into old habits or behaviours.
“We also often see regressive behaviour, especially with young children during these times,” said Daniels.
A young child who was toilet trained might start having a lot of setbacks if they’re under significant emotional distress, Daniels said, or perhaps they’re having more tantrums than you’ve seen in a long time. They might start thumb-sucking again or, in the case of older children, start playing with toys they haven’t used in years.
Regression is a fairly common coping mechanism, mental health experts say, and it isn’t necessarily a problem — but it is a sign to pay attention. Don’t forget to gently ask little kids how they’re feeling, and to keep having those conversations and check-ins as this situation continues.
Their sleeping or eating patterns have changed.
“It’s tricky because sleep has probably already shifted a little due to the shifting nature of the schedule,” Busman said. “However, if your child or teen is sleeping way more than usual or way less than usual, dig deeper.”
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Are they staying up later than usual because they’re anxious and unable to shut off their thoughts? Are they suddenly sleeping a whole lot more than before? These are changes to be mindful of.
Likewise, pay attention to alterations in their appetite. Are they eating more? Eating less? Suddenly being really picky? If you have any concerns, consider calling their GP.
They’re overdoing the screen time.
Your kiddo may be getting a lot more screen time these days than they’re accustomed to, and that’s not only okay ― it’s a matter of sanity and survival, really.
And yet! If your kid is using screens as a way to emotionally withdraw, that could be a sign that they’re having a tough time coping.
“When a child or teen really removes themselves — isolates — we want to look into that,” Busman said. “Is your child rejecting opportunities to interact within the family? Are they interacting with friends, via Zoom or other hangouts?”
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Your job as a parent is to really try to tune into how your kid is using screens. Is it to relax? Have fun? Or simply fill some time during the day? Or is it more because they’re searching for ways to emotionally retreat and check out?
If they make it clear they need a place where they can be alone, Daniels’ workbook suggests maybe creating a “calming corner,” filled with things like squeeze balls, a journal or a pinwheel that kids can use to facilitate long, soothing breaths. And then help them stay connected socially by using technology to connect with peers and loved ones, maybe by asking a grandparent or other family member to read a bedtime story to younger kids.
They’re clinging to you a lot — even though you may be spending a lot more time together.
Clinginess is another common — but often overlooked — sign that your child is grappling with feelings of frustration, stress or sadness, according to Daniels. Do they not want you to leave their side? Even if you guys are spending way more time together than you usually do? They may be looking for some help managing really tricky emotions.
Give them practical ways to release their emotions, like dancing, doing something nice for a loved one or crying when they feel the need.
“This is a great time for parents to not only emotionally connect with their children but also model healthy behaviour,” Daniels said. Do you have good coping strategies that you turn to, like meditation or yoga? Maybe consider teaching some of your preferred methods to your kiddo.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-17--11 Weird Things Couples Do When No One's Watching

And with more couples cooped up at home right now, these strange habits are even more apparent than usual. We asked romantic partners to reveal the peculiar things they do when they’re alone together. Some brave souls share theirs below.
Note: Some respondents’ last names have been withheld to protect their privacy.
1. A real handful
“My husband and I have totally been known to both have a hand on the crotch — our own, not each other’s — Al Bundy-style while Netflix and chilling. Only after the kids are in bed, of course, because we’ve got to set a good example.” — Samantha T.
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2. Mrs. Pimple Popper
“My husband has the most amazing back spots here and there and I absolutely love popping them. He’s such a baby about it and for being such an enormous man, is very sensitive. But he knows I love it so much that he is happy to let me pop them.” — Gigi Engle
3. Shooting the shit
“My partner and I openly discuss our bowel movements with each other in-depth — e.g. frequency, consistency, size etc. I would never do that with anyone else.” ― Kelsey M.
4. The ghost of Elvis
“My fiancé had a voice he used for his family’s dog, Elvis. Sadly, Elvis died a couple of years back, but that has not stopped my fiancé from continuing to do ‘the voice’ and now pretending that his dead childhood dog haunts our apartment. We’ve continued developing Elvis’ personality in the afterlife and keep Ian’s family up-to-date on what’s new with him: ‘He’s very into Meg Ryan movies right now.’ ‘He’s toying around with a British accent right now because he thinks it makes him sound more distinguished.’ If anyone overheard these conversations, they’d be very confused.” ― Angela Spera
5. Nailed it
“Since I’ve (inexplicably) gotten older and a bit out of shape, I can only reach most of my toenails when I clip. So my wife has to clip my pinky toenails. I’m fairly sure she couldn’t have anticipated THAT when she said ‘I do.’” ― Steve Olivas
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6. Love stinks
“My boyfriend and I have no problems with getting weird and gross. I had to suss him out when we first started dating by farting to see if he could handle my level of gross. Fast forward 13 years later and we’re plucking ingrown hairs and popping strange pimples off each other.” — Letitia Kiu
7. Pup parlance
“We baby talk with our doggy son, Parker. By now it’s almost as if we have our own language.” — YaoYao Ma Van As
8. A toothy smooch
“It started out as a joke about first dates: I had said that if you weren’t feeling someone after a first date that you should come into the goodnight kiss completely teeth first. Now we just regularly come at each other with our teeth first and click them together like complete freaks.” — Engle
9. The goose is loose
“On your average weekday morning, I’m hanging out in a shower cap, which has earned me the nickname ‘Mother Goose’ from my fiancé. If I’m not wearing it, he asks, ‘Where’s your hat, Mother Goose?’” ― Spera
10. Doggy ditties
“My wife and I have a song for every occasion involving our dog, there’s the num num (getting fed) song, going to bed song, going outside song, just laying there staring at us song and periodically we will add new lyrics.” ― Dan Regan
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11. Double the rubbin’


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-17--Our Hair Can Reveal How Stressed Coronavirus Has Made Us, Scientists Think

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Samples of Brits’ hair will go under the microscope in a landmark study to research how coronavirus is affecting people’s physical and emotional health.
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From worrying about the health of loved ones and experiencing bereavement, to coping with financial woes, childcare issues and social distancing measures, the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted society, the health service and the economy bringing a huge variety of stresses to people’s lives.
Now the researchers hope to use hair to understand how people’s stress levels have varied during the pandemic – to help plan services in future.
The study will collect samples of hair from volunteers throughout the UK and use questionnaires to assess people’s emotional and physical wellbeing – before repeating 12 weeks later, and potentially again once changes in social distancing are introduced.
The hair samples will be tested for levels of the stress hormone cortisol, signifying anxiety and depression. The team will also examine any measurable physical changes to people’s hair over the 12-week period.
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Kavita Vedhara, professor of health psychology at the University of Nottingham Kavita Vedhara
Kavita Vedhara, professor of health psychology at the University of Nottingham who is leading the study, told HuffPost UK: “We want to understand how the Covid-19 pandemic is affecting the physical and emotional health of people in the UK.
“We have worked in the area of stress and health for 30 years now and one of the key things we’ve learnt is that when we experience stressful situations for protracted periods of time such as during this pandemic, it can have real implications for our health and wellbeing.”
Short periods of stress affect people’s physiology: an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, or perhaps blushing or sweating.
But the stresses caused by the coronavirus pandemic are completely different, Professor Vedhara argues, as they are long-term and persistent, which is likely to lead to deeper consequences.
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“As soon as we face anything challenging, our body reacts as quickly as our mind.” - Professor Kavita Vedhara
Researchers want to examine if the emotional impact of the coronavirus outbreak and the levels of stress hormone cortisol lead to physical changes – and, if so, they want to give people choices about what they can do to reduce the impact.
“As soon as we face anything challenging, our body reacts as quickly as our mind,” she said. “It is a very prehistoric response to threat – like running away from a lion – and the short term response mobilises the body into ‘fight or flight’ mode.
“But the stress of modern-day life and the pandemic is a very different stress as it is a classic chronic stress condition and is drawn out and protracted.
“We have no idea when this pandemic is going to end, have very little control over it, and we perceive it as a significant threat to our wellbeing.
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“Unlike the short-term physical reactions that happen in an acutely stressful situation such as a driving test, this period of stress is protracted which means those changes in your body become much more long-lasting.
“When a challenge persists such as with this pandemic, which people are finding extremely stressful, we are likely to see long term changes in the production of the stress hormone cortisol.
“Cortisol does a lot of things including regulating the immune system so where that translates into a change in cortisol, it could affect a person’s immune system and increase their vulnerability to illness.”
Rapeeporn Dangchan / EyeEm via Getty Images
The Covid-19 Stress and Health Study is being carried out by experts at the University of Nottingham and King’s College London with the support of stress hormone testing company MyFertile.
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The experts believe the social distancing measures to slow the spread of the virus and the new, constrained way of living as well as other challenges arising from the pandemic, are already likely to have affected people’s emotional and physical wellbeing.
Prof Vedhara told HuffPost UK the research is critical as it will allow the team to look at how the pandemic is not only affecting people’s mental health, but also their physical health.
“We have no idea how big an issue the consequences of this pandemic will be for the population.” she said. “The stresses people are experiencing now during this pandemic include bereavement; worrying about loved ones in hospital; financial worries; the pressures of homeschooling children; and social isolation.
“The idea is that if we look at the cortisol levels in people’s hair now, we will be able to see the immediate impact on the emotional health of the UK.
“When we look at it 12 weeks later, we will be able to see if the situation has got worse or if people have found a way of adapting.
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“If the results show that the protracted emotional impact translates into a physical impact that means people are at greater risk of illness, we need to give the population choices about what they can do to reduce the impact of stress as cortisol is changed not only by mood, but lifestyle.”
By providing hair samples, people will allow experts to explore whether any stress they experience today and in the coming weeks could affect their health in the future.
Hair measuring one centimetre in length from the back of the head will allow researchers to see how cortisol has been in circulation for the previous four weeks.
Jennifer Adams
Jennifer Adams, 30, has chosen to take part in the study by providing hair samples as she wants to know more about the impact the pandemic is having on her.
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She told HuffPost UK that she is usually a very positive and upbeat person, but found herself on the verge of tears on a number of occasions as the impact of the coronavirus crisis on her life sank in.
“I had been telling everyone I was fine and I know everyone is going through this, but I just had this build-up and it suddenly hit me and I wanted to cry.” - Jennifer Adams
Jennifer, a global programme manager for a shopfitting and display company, said: “I usually work long hours in the office and am in an open plan office with lots of people around me.
“I live on my own so being based in an office was very important to me and in the evenings and weekends, I was always visiting friends and family so was not home very often.
“So the social distancing measures have meant a huge change to my life as I was so used to having a busy work and social life and constantly being around people.”
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Jennifer Adams
Jennifer said that at first, working from home during the lockdown and spending evenings alone was fine as she appreciated having more time.
But she admitted that last week, she ran out of jobs to do and the enormity of the weekend with nothing to do hit her.
“I had been keeping myself busy with lots of jobs and had even cleared the loft out.” she said. “But then I ran out of things to do and began panicking about the weekend and didn’t know what I was going to do.”
Despite telling everyone she was fine and knowing everyone was in the same position, Jennifer felt a build-up of stress and suddenly found herself wanting to cry.
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“I think it was a feeling of panic of being indoors constantly on my own and I realised how much my life had involved being with other people.
“I don’t mind being on my own, but I didn’t want to get lost in that and I could feel my mood changing.
“I always try to keep myself upbeat and not dwell on things so I did not realise how stressed I was getting.
“I felt worried about not seeing my family and I panicked thinking about certain friends I wouldn’t see for months.”
Laura Folan
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Laura Folan, 26, who lives in Birmingham, has also volunteered to take part in the study. She’s at increased risk from Covid-19 as she has asthma.
“The coronavirus outbreak sent me into panic mode. I have been hospitalised due to the flu in the past because of the way it affected my asthma,” she told HuffPost UK.
“The coronavirus outbreak sent me into panic mode. I have been hospitalised due to the flu in the past because of the way it affected my asthma.” - Laura Folan
“I have also suffered from anxiety on and off for years because of my fertility issues.
“Myself and my partner were close to starting our screening in preparation for IVF but now all the clinics have closed due to coronavirus so we know it will be a good while before we can go ahead with fertility treatment.”
Laura Folan and partner Daniel Clarke, Laura Folan
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Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology at Alliance Manchester Business School, part of the University of Manchester, told HuffPost UK measuring cortisol through hair is a way to avoid invasive procedures such as taking blood samples.
He has welcomed the research study as he believes it is important to investigate the mental health impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
But he’d also like to see the specific sources of people’s coronavirus stress investigated, so solutions can be found to prevent them affecting other people.
Prof Cary Cooper Prof Cary Cooper
“There will be all sorts of reasons why people are experiencing stress during this pandemic such as people being socially isolated, people working remotely, the fear of job security, financial worries, family pressures and homeschooling children.
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“To figure out a solution, you would need to know the specific sources of the stress so that you can try to correct it.
“I think it is great that experts and psychologists are researching the mental health impact of this virus.
“I would suggest the researchers collect data as well as to what the participants think might be causing the stress and use a mental health scale to measure it.
“Cortisol is one potential indicator of stress levels and using it in conjunction with psychometric tests is a good way of looking at stress.”
The hair samples need to be at least three millimetres wide and one centimetre long to take part in the study, and taken from the back of the head.
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First, the research team will look at the emotional impact of the pandemic in its first few weeks – in particular, the levels of anxiety and depression it may have caused.
They will then consider how these effects on emotional wellbeing change after 12 weeks of living with the pandemic and what happens as and when there are changes in social distancing regulations.
The team will also examine whether the emotional effects are associated with measurable physical changes by assessing how levels of the hormone cortisol change over the 12-week period.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-17--As Ramadan Approaches Under Lockdown, It Would Be Foolish To Underestimate The Far-Right

We must not underestimate the ability of the far-right to capitalise on coronavirus, Naz Shah MP writes. Getty Creative
Coronavirus has sparked an economic, societal and psychological upheaval that is leading to many unforeseen changes across our society. On the whole, our communities have risen to the challenge. We have all been touched by the kindness on display and the gratitude shown by people up and down the country for our NHS and care staff, shop workers, refuse collectors, bus, train and delivery drivers, and other key workers.
However, while this crisis reminds us of how important our social bonds are, and how a community working together can make a real difference, we must never be complacent.
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History shows us economic anxiety and fear can lead to the rise in vote shares for extreme parties and populist figures. This is backed up by studies which repeatedly show that societal threats directly increase support for groups and political parties with an extreme and divisive message.
Get the latest on coronavirus. Sign up to the Daily Brief for news, explainers, how-tos, opinion and more.
Unfortunately, today, like in past eras, we have prominent voices across the world who would like nothing better than to repeat the mistakes of history and use this crisis to sow divisions in our communities for their own political gain.
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The rise of Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election strongly correlated with a perceived link to job losses caused by rising imports from China. So, it is no coincidence he has tried to cover his own failings in this crisis by going back to the same “dog whistle” rhetoric he relied on during his election campaign.
Already, hundreds of Chinese Americans have reported being violently attacked because of “China virus” racism. And in a sign of how irrational hatred can fester anywhere, African minorities in China have been targeted – despite the virus likely being of Chinese, not African, origin.
Closer to home, “accelerationist” groups, who believe in hastening the collapse of society in order to build a white supremacist one in its place, have started to seize the Covid “opportunity”, using social media platforms to encourage acts of terrorism and sabotage in the name of white nationalism.
“I hope and pray we meet again with a renewed belief in the power of society and a renewed determination to never be divided by those who seek to blame and scapegoat.”
Tommy Robinson and Katie Hopkins, two of Britain’s most notorious far-right figureheads, are similarly latching onto the pandemic to attack Muslims. Robinson recently shared a video of Muslim men supposedly flouting social distancing by attending a “secret mosque” in Birmingham – allegations that were dismissed by West Midlands police. He is also warning of a “Germ Jihad”, claiming that Muslims are carrying out coronavirus attacks to “increase the torment of non-believers”, claims which are totally unfounded.
Hopkins is again fuelling hatred by claiming that Britain was locked down over Easter so that isolation ends in time for Ramadan, in a preposterous tweet that has since been deleted. The far-right seems intent on attacking Muslims for the most outlandish of reasons, to propagate the outsider Muslim narrative.
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The reality British Muslims are facing could not be more different – and this is a story we all must tell, proudly and relentlessly. The Muslim community is on the frontlines of the NHS fight against the disease. Muslim-led charities have launched a Campaign for National Solidarity.
And it’s not just Muslims playing a vital role but people from BAME backgrounds across our society putting themselves in harm’s way to help the rest of us. We must remember, the first 10 doctors in the UK named as having died from the virus were all BAME and their heroic work should be celebrated long after this pandemic.
However, for those that seek to divide us, reality does not seem to matter in these trying times. In traumatic circumstances, people often seek dramatic explanations which makes it even more worrying when we see wild conspiracy theories spread across social media.
I was recently appointed Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion, a role which is of particular importance now as the trauma of the pandemic tugs at our social fabric.
To protect ourselves from inheriting a bitterly divided post-crisis society, we must celebrate the contributions of minorities in Britain, from NHS professionals, to bus drivers, to care workers and remember all those people who have made great sacrifices at this time.
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Over the coming months, I am determined to harness the goodwill, the kindness and the solidarity that has been on display across our communities and ensure Labour’s message to people up and down the country is one of unity and solidarity.
We will be a strong voice in taking on divisiveness, bigotry and hatred. When the Queen says: “We will meet again,” I hope and pray we do so with a renewed pride in our communities, a renewed belief in the power of society and a renewed determination to never be divided by those who seek to blame and scapegoat.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-17--Grenfell Should Remind Us Where We Should Be Donating Our Money During Lockdown

In the immediate response to Grenfell, urgent and emergency funds were diverted to large, mostly non-BAME led charities REUTERS
Almost three years since the Grenfell Tower fire, the coronavirus pandemic reminds us that in times of disaster, grassroots organisations are the ones on the frontline.
The chaos that ensued in north Kensington following the tragedy stemmed, in large part, from the uncoordinated response led by national charities that left gaps that could only be filled by community action.
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Today, it is these communities that are struggling the most.
We must learn lessons from the Grenfell tragedy. It is vital that we listen to those communities who are worst affected, and we must ensure our responses don’t
exacerbate existing inequalities.
A report investigating the charity sector’s response to Grenfell, released in May 2018, was intended to right some of these wrongs and enable it to respond effectively to future disasters.
It advised civil society to appreciate local, secular and faith organisations, who have the ability to draw on their resources on the ground to act quickly and sensitively in line with the needs of communities they understand. It advised that disaster response systems be tailored to the vast socio-economic and cultural differences that exist across our communities; and that diverse communities be supported in a way that is sensitive to their varying needs.
“Without a purposeful, intersectional aid response that centres on BAME communities, the Covid-19 outbreak will further entrench racial inequalities in our society.”
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So far, we have not seen these recommendations applied in the sector’s response to Covid-19. Charities hold a lot of power, and often have access to individuals and communities most impacted by the pandemic. BAME people are likely to be overrepresented among the groups who risk facing serious complications if they contract the virus, as well as suffering most severely from the economic consequences. This is, as our research into racial injustices in the Covid-19 response examines, due to a range of social and economic issues, as well as the intersection between poverty, race and health inequality.
Emergency funding worth £750m is now in the hands of some of the largest and most powerful civil society organisations. Without a purposeful, intersectional approach that centres on BAME communities, the Covid-19 outbreak will further entrench racial inequalities in our society.
The charity sector must remember its past mistakes and look to distribute this money in a way that supports the most “vulnerable” (as defined by public health guidelines). This means equitable distribution of this funding to small, BAME voluntary and community sector groups, as they are currently leading the sector’s frontline response.
This isn’t just about providing relief now, but about which organisations we want to preserve in a post Covid-19 society. We know the impact on BAME communities will be felt long after lockdown has ended, and we need to make sure they are supported through the instability to come.
It is easy in a crisis to revert to familiar ways of working, but in doing so we risk not only reinforcing existing structures of racial inequality, but also further embedding them.
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As Grenfell showed us, traditional models and processes for distributing funds do not reach the groups and organisations that are most in need. Unless we act now, history will repeat itself, with grave and long-lasting consequences.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-17--My Graduation Was Cancelled And I Feel Guilty Being Heartbroken About It

Courtesy of the author HuffPost UK
On 11 March, I got the email while walking out of my last English class: “COVID-19 update on University of Michigan classes, travel, study abroad and large events.”
My heart sank as I opened it. I’d already guessed what I’d find in the email: My senior year, as I knew it, would be coming to a close.
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Arriving at my off-campus apartment, I stood in the doorway for what felt like an eternity, trying to decide whether I should pack up and leave or stay for a few days to say goodbye to this place I call home. After talking to my friends and family, I chose to pack up my apartment that same night and head back to my childhood home, about an hour and a half away.
What would I be saying goodbye to if I stayed, anyway? A panic-stricken campus full of students and faculty trying to figure out their next steps in the face of a pandemic that could alter the course of their lives? It wasn’t the University of Michigan that I knew nor the one I wanted to say goodbye to.
It was two days later when the senior class received notification that our graduation ceremony was officially canceled. Most of us had had a glimmer of hope upon receiving our first email from the president of the university stating that classes would continue online without mentioning graduation. Now that hope quickly dissipated.
“All University of Michigan commencement ceremonies are canceled. We will look at ways to celebrate 2020 graduates in the future.”
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I sat on the bathroom floor in my parents’ home and sobbed. Hearing my whale-esque sounds of sorrow, worried family members came to my side and shared my pain. My mother, an immigrant to the US, had been looking forward to seeing me graduate from this university since the day I set foot on campus. She was 22-years-old when the Yugoslav Wars broke out in Croatia, leaving her with a forever incomplete law degree. My father, a first-generation college graduate who has been steadfast in supporting my academic dreams while paying the interest on my student loans, had yearned for the day that he’d see me sport a commencement gown with honours cords and a University of Michigan stole, much like graduation at his alma mater.
I couldn’t remember the last time I cried like that. This wasn’t just a loss for me. It was a loss for my parents, too.
“I couldn’t remember the last time I cried like that. This wasn’t just a loss for me. It was a loss for my parents, too.”
Other people have been (understandably) less sympathetic. A common response when I express sadness over my shortened senior year and canceled graduation has been, “Oh, suck it up. People are dying.” Also, “Well, it’s time to make some sacrifices for those who are suffering!”
And yes, I couldn’t agree more. The world is at a time when we must collectively step back from all we took for granted for the sake of the greater good. The negligence of those who are failing to comply with social distancing standards is, in part, perpetuating the pandemic. My problem is very much a privileged problem, and I am aware of that.
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People in the entertainment, hospitality, restaurant and personal service industries are losing their jobs left and right. People working for once
“steady” corporations are, too. Meanwhile, janitors, grocery store employees, garbage collectors and mail carriers are choosing between their health and a paycheck to support their families. Health care professionals are putting their lives on the line to save others while the rest of us are urged to stay home. Weddings are being postponed, and here I am, sitting on the bathroom floor, crying about my college graduation ceremony being canceled.
But can’t I be sad? Can’t I acknowledge the magnitude of the horror and suffering this crisis has brought to the world while still allowing myself to grieve what I’ve lost?
I’m sad for this time in my life that I had dreamed of since I was a young girl, when I learned what “Go Blue!” meant.
I’m sad that the vision I had crafted in my head of my last days on campus, celebrating with friends while feeling four years of academic pressure finally let go, will never come to fruition.
“Can’t I acknowledge the magnitude of the horror and suffering this crisis has brought to the world while still allowing myself to grieve what I've lost?”
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I’m sad that I’ll miss the chance to thank, in person, the professors who shaped my worldview so pivotally, who helped me to take a step back from my conservative upbringing and understand things about myself that I hadn’t known.
I’m sad that I’ve lost the opportunity to say goodbye to friends whom I might never see again, and I’m sad that I’ll never close out another night at the law library working on a Milton analysis and hear the library clerk tell me that no, I cannot stay just 30 more minutes.
I’m sad that I won’t be able to celebrate the hard-earned and joyous occasion of my college graduation with my friends and our families in person.
And finally, I’m just sad to realize that my undergraduate experience overlapped with some of the most tumultuous times in our country: Donald Trump’s presidency, a slew of sexual assault allegations, mass shootings and a global pandemic.
On 20 March, I decided to head back to campus and pack up the remaining things I failed to take when I abruptly left the first time. I walked to the Robertson Auditorium where the Michigan Fashion Media Summit, a student event for which I was the chief operating officer and on which I worked with 53 other students for the duration of the school year, would have taken place. Our plans to bridge the gap between our campus and the fashion and media worlds by bringing together 19-plus industry speakers and 650-plus attendees were also canceled.
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This past year, during one of the most stressful school years I’ve ever experienced, I kept wishing for college to just be over.
Now I understand why they say you must be careful what you wish for.
This article first appeared on HuffPost Personal


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-17--We Don’t Know When Coronavirus Will End. Here’s How To Stop Focusing On It

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We all want to know when life will return to “normal”. It’s a question being asked daily – whether that’s by friends and family, or journalists during the government briefing. But so far, we have no firm date to cling onto.
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Some of us may have eagerly awaited that initial three-week lockdown date, only for it to be extended for another three. Those in vulnerable groups may have their sights set on 12 weeks from the day social shielding measures were announced.
Meanwhile, a report published in the journal Science suggests after lockdown ends – a date we don’t know for certain yet – “prolonged or intermittent social distancing may be necessary into 2022” to prevent the virus resurfacing at dangerous levels. Put simply, we don’t have an accurate timescale for the end of this pandemic – but it’s human nature to keep asking for one.
“We’re creatures of habit and routine, so planning is part of that routine and habit-forming behaviours,” counsellor and psychotherapist Nora Allali-Carling tells HuffPost UK. “It can be very difficult for people to sit with the unknown, especially if the unknown is coupled with immense fear and heightened levels of uncertainty.”
Getty/HuffPost UK
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The need to know when this will end is paramount for some people, because it enables them to work towards a personal, professional or life goal, adds Allali-Carling. It motivates them to accomplish something.
This very act of life planning also provides a welcome distraction to stress and anxiety, says counsellor and psychotherapist Lucy Fuller. So with no timeline – and therefore no structure – to make such plans, we’re missing the catalyst to direct us away from negative thoughts. And without time, we can start to feel a little lost.
So, should we pluck a date out of the air to have something to focus on? Fuller thinks not. “It doesn’t necessarily make it easier to have planned dates ahead of us if the time plan is susceptible to change, especially at short notice,” she says. “Change is also a known trigger for anxiety, so it must be difficult for the government to decide the best way to give information to the public.”
The best solution, says Fuller, would be for the government to outline what to expect when social distancing is relaxed – e.g. a plan of order, such as schools first, then shops, then restaurants – an idea floated by Labour leader Keir Starmer. ”[This would] give the public some hope of better times to come without any fixed promises on timing,” she says.
But without a detailed exit plan – or a fixed end date to look forward to – there are still ways to let go of our fascination with time, or at least relieve some of the pressure it gives rise to.
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Firstly, get your wellbeing basics in order, says Allali-Carling, as this will empower you, “whilst managing a situation we are powerless to change”. Tips include avoiding excessive news consumption, staying remotely connected with loved ones, writing a gratitude journal and seeking out online therapy or faith groups if they help you.
Fuller says the age-old saying “take each day as it comes” may help some, but others with a strong desire to control their future may find it frustrating. For those in the latter camp, she recommends making a list of what you want to achieve on a weekly basis as a result of your change in circumstances.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-17--8 Funny Tweets That'll Have You Laughing Into The Weekend

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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 an
We may be living through a lockdown, but that doesn’t mean we’ve stopped having a giggle. Social media has been on point this week, delivering the funny videos and pictures we all need to lift our spirits.
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Homegrown comedians, we salute you and your valiant efforts. Here are just eight tweets that made us laugh out loud.
1. Millionaire wannabes can’t wave.
Obsessed with this thread (please watch them all). Obsessed with ITV’s Quiz.
Inspired by #Quiz and due to having nothing better to do... here are some of my favourite ‘waves’ from hopeful contestants on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
Starting with this dainty effort from Brian. pic.twitter.com/f5NaoHTZtU — Jake Graham (@AlbionJake) April 15, 2020
2. The human water fountain.
Sound up – this kid’s laugh is everything.
This is funny and cute and has just given me a much needed laugh.
[sound up] pic.twitter.com/x7ZIYxelrk — Amanda (@Pandamoanimum) April 13, 2020
3. Just a gecko art gallery.
We do love a bit of art gecko. But seriously, we applaud this effort.
fuck it gecko art museum pic.twitter.com/AFkwVb1Q6y — AJP (@poolerity) April 13, 2020
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4. Don’t quit your day job, Emily Maitlis.
The Newsnight presenter’s home haircut fail is so bad, it’s impressive.
Yes, I did used to work in a hairdressers.
No, I didn’t learn to use clippers.
Yes, he did ask me to help with this against all my better instincts
No, we are not currently talking ... pic.twitter.com/TibA2j6ON0 — emily m (@maitlis) April 14, 2020
5. The cat who got rainbow-ed.
Werk it, chalk is the new black. He almost looks... metallic?
You guys, my black cat accidentally rolled in sidewalk chalk. pic.twitter.com/0HB0Hjb8v6 — Ian Dorsch (@IanDorsch) April 13, 2020
6. Comedian is a lyrical genius.
No, these aren’t the right words. Yes, they’re better ones. Comedian Bec Hill is a genius. Watching this video is three minutes well spent.
What was the last lyric you had to look up online? 😂 @bechillcomedian pic.twitter.com/xLNEMv7SMe — BBC Radio 6 Music (@BBC6Music) April 13, 2020
7. This home recreation of Romeo and Juliet.
A personal favourite from Alex Horne’s #HomeTasking challenge, where he’s asking the public to complete a series of tasks using nothing but themselves and things in their house. Task 7? Silently recreate an iconic movie moment...
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8. The pup who’s yet to master drinking.
Water we going to do with you?


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-17--How Exploring BDSM Helped Me Get Past My Assault

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You’re reading Sex Diaries, a HuffPost UK Personal series about how we are (or aren’t) having sex. To share your story, get in touch on ukpersonal@huffpost.com.
The first time Harry* and I slept together, it was romantic. But this second time was, to him, an opportunity to push the boundaries. He loved nothing more.
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With little to no foreplay, he had sex with me. I at least expected conversation after, but even that didn’t happen; as soon as he finished, he smirked, said goodnight and rolled over. I loved him but, in an instant, he’d made me feel used. So I nudged him.
Harry ignored me, pretending to have fallen asleep. He’d treated me like nothing more than a sex toy. So I nudged him again. And again.
Continuing to ignore me, he moved to a different part of the apartment we were staying in. When I followed, in what felt like a flash, he grabbed me by the neck and slapped me across the face.
“Shut up!” he shouted.
I screamed. I had never felt fear like it.
“The first time I tried BDSM, with a new partner, I was scared. After all, the last time a man had put his hands around my neck.”
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After, his interpretation of events was that while he had maybe gone “a bit alpha”, he’d acted in self-defence. He gaslighted me to the point where, within a few weeks, I agreed.
Harry was the most physically built man. Even when he was being romantic, his every movement had a power to it. I soon discovered he liked rough sex. I’d never done it before, but I gave it a go, for him.
He pushed way past those boundaries again, months later. Trying to fall asleep next to him, I heard a click, felt our bedroom light up, and found myself screaming again.
Harry had put a lighter to my hair. He said it was a joke. Everything was a joke to him, and I don’t think he contemplated for a moment how serious his actions could have been.
I managed to extinguish the fire under the covers, but that night my anxiety morphed from a general sense of dread into tangible checking and avoidance. Harry had made me feel so powerless that I was desperate to take back control of my world.
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In the years after Harry, I struggled sexually. I had even been known to follow up with casual partners to check that I had had their full consent (knowing full well it made me look crazy).
So the first time I tried BDSM, with a new partner, I was scared. After all, the last time a man had put his hands around my neck, I was terrified. But I knew I had to push past the fear to really enjoy it, and I knew I wanted to prove to myself that this bad experience wasn’t going to control me.
“For the first time in years, I felt like I wasn’t broken.”
I quickly found out I enjoyed being tied up with a rope, watching him carefully tie knots around my arms and feet – tight, but not too tight. I learned that the only red line I had was simple and understandable: I could not let a man slap me across the face. I trusted my new partner absolutely, and doing so a powerful feeling. Despite everything I’d been through, I could still trust a man. For the first time in years, I felt like I wasn’t broken.
“I can be quite rough, but I have to check if you’re into it,” said another man shortly after we started seeing each other.
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“I am,” I assured him. I was confident now in my ability to articulate my boundaries.
He pushed the boundaries of BDSM more than I’d experienced before, choking me to the point where I wasn’t sure I couldn’t handle it. As I struggled to breathe, I realised my submission to this man had nothing to do with sex – my willingness to submit was really about control. Since my abusive relationship, I’d tried to control my world absolutely, but now I realised that only giving that power to someone else would set me free from my past. BDSM, it turned out, was the unlikely key to getting over what I hope remains the worst experience of my life.
Last weekend, I had a one-night stand – let’s call him Freddie*. We never had penetrative sex, but there was something interesting about him, something about the way he looked into my eyes. I don’t know why, but while I got him off, I put my hand over his mouth, a little roughly.
“I’ve never had a woman do that before... but I liked it,” Freddie said.
With one hand around his penis and another over his mouth, my neck was exposed. And I don’t know why, but this time I wanted him to grab it.
Six years after that first assault, I was powerful. I wasn’t scared any more.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-17--Have Your Periods Gone Weird During Lockdown? Ours Too

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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.
If you’ve found that lockdown has wreaked havoc with your monthly cycle, you’re not alone.
From “heavier than ever” periods, to “so late I did three pregnancy tests”, something strange seems to be happening now we’re all in self-isolation.
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Given many of us are still staying at home most of the time, a lot of us will have noticed if it has affected the way we menstruate. Anecdotally at least, it appears that it has.
On Twitter, women are saying they’re late – or barely bleeding at all. One woman said her period was a week delayed, quipping that it had “stayed inside like the rest of us”. Another woman’s arrived a week early “like a lockdown present”.
“A shit present, I should add, but one you can’t return, because you lost the receipt at the bar.”
Menstrual synchrony – when your cycle seems to fall into line with other women you live or work with – has not been scientifically proven, but it’s the experience of another HuffPost reader, who said she’d already synced with her girlfriend while living together in lockdown. “That’s good and bad news!” she said.
A mother said her family’s cycles have matched up, too. “Mine was a week shorter than usual. I appear to have synced with my 15-year-old daughter.”
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One woman told HuffPost UK she’d been isolating at home since 5 March – long before the official start of lockdown. Her last period was two weeks late. Another who also had a fortnight’s delay said she’d got through a packet of pregnancy tests, despite having no reason to suspect she was expecting.
And if waiting for one period weren’t enough, some women are double-dripping. “I’ve had two this month!” said one. “Which is wildly upsetting.”
Others are noticing a distinct lack of blood when their periods do arrive. “I had dreadful dysmenorrhea which blighted my teenage years, and it’s now come back, 20 years on,” one woman told me. “I daren’t go to the doctors, of course.”
And some are feeling more intense pain from cramps and fatigue than usual. “Going through stomach cramps right now,” another woman said. “Including pelvic and leg pain. That doesn’t usually happen. The pain is pissing me off.”
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According to GP Dr Laura Woodhouse, stress can be a significant factor in missing periods and having irregular periods.
“Changes to weight and exercise may also have role,” she tells HuffPost UK. “Even if it feels unlikely, it’s always worth checking if you could be pregnant. GP surgeries and sexual health clinics will still be running phone appointments and if you’re worried it’s best to talk to a healthcare professional about your own circumstances.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-16--How Much PPE Do NHS Staff Need? The Government Can’t Say

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The government has been unable to say how much personal protective equipment is still lacking in the fight against coronavirus, as the number of NHS staff confirmed to have died of the illness continues to climb.
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Health chiefs boast that millions of pieces of kit – masks, gloves and aprons – have been dished out since the outbreak began. But the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) could not tell HuffPost UK how much more was needed.
It comes amid complaints from workers and their unions that frontline staff are not being adequately protected. Although the amount of PPE is high, much of it must be changed daily or even hourly, and there are more than a million frontline health and social care workers who need it. That’s before even considering other sectors such as bus drivers, of whom 20 have died in London alone since the outbreak began.
Dame Donna Kinnair, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, has said she is hearing from nurses every day that they do not have enough protective equipment, while staff in care homes have put out emergency appeals for help while awaiting vital deliveries of masks, gloves and aprons.
Meanwhile, as of Thursday, 27 NHS staff are known to have died after contracting coronavirus.
The Department of Health and Social Care says it has so far delivered 923m pieces of PPE to the frontline, including 173m masks; 163m aprons; 1.3m gowns and 440m pairs of gloves.
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But large-scale deliveries do not necessarily mean every staff member has what they need.
NHS workers in PPE. Justin Setterfield via Getty Images
There are around 1.6m NHS staff in the UK, spread across hospitals and the community, and the PPE needs of each individual vary widely depending on their job, and even the given day. Some needing a full change of equipment between each patient.
Any medical professional working in a high-risk situation, such as preparing a patient for ventilation, could only use their PPE once. Aprons, masks, gloves and gowns should also be discarded after a single use.
Other items, such as protective goggles, can be re-used if strict hygiene procedures are followed.
When HuffPost UK asked the DHSC for a rough idea of the amount of PPE needed each week, a spokesperson simply offered a breakdown of how much had been delivered around the Easter bank holiday weekend.
Labour MP Helen Hayes, who put out an emergency appeal on Twitter on behalf of a care home in her Dulwich and West Norwood constituency, said the government has not carried out a detailed enough analysis of what is needed where.
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She said social care staff, around a third of which are employed through local councils rather than the NHS, including those in care homes – are also being put at risk as a result.
URGENT: the British Home on Crown Lane, care home for people with neurodisabilities urgently needs personal protective equipment for staff, especially masks & long sleeved gowns, as they wait for delivery at the weekend. If you can help please get in touch https://t.co/mXVTFHbV7e — Helen Hayes (@helenhayes_) April 16, 2020
“The problems accessing PPE experienced in the social care sector across the country are shocking and they are leading to tragic consequences,” Hayes, who co-chairs a parliamentary group on social care, told HuffPost.
“In addition to supply chain issues, this speaks to the lack of engagement with and regard for the social care sector by the government over the last 10 years.
“The diversity of care settings and providers and their differing requirements for PPE have not been well understood and that has contributed to unacceptable delays in need being met.”
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Reports of “blanket” deliveries of certain amounts of PPE have left some bigger care facilities with serious shortages, while smaller ones have more than they need, experts say.
In a joint statement, care-worker unions the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, Unison, Unite, GMB and TUC said a “critical lack” of protective equipment and testing had allowed the virus to “sweep through” the sector.
“Social care is facing a crisis without precedent. Problems with supplies of protective equipment and a lack of testing is causing much anxiety amongst employers, staff, and the families of the people they care for. Many care home residents and care workers have already died,” the unions said on Thursday.
“People who rely on social care are often more vulnerable to catching and dying from Covid-19. Yet a month into this crisis, many care workers are still working without suitable PPE, despite their heightened risk of exposure to the virus and to spreading it.
“A critical lack of PPE and testing of social care staff and service users is putting them at unnecessary risk of exposure – and means we are almost certainly underestimating how far the virus has spread.”
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Dave Carr, a critical care nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’ in central London, believes the use of PPE should be extended even further.
The 57-year-old, who was due to retire this week but delayed his plans due to the crisis, produced a video calling for bus drivers to also be given safety equipment.
Comrade Dave Carr Intensive care nurse sends a video out for us bus drivers give us confidence to #SealTheFrontDoor and fight for #PPENow. @SadiqKhan meet the NHS and Bus workers demands now! pic.twitter.com/FkkidzXWqt — MOE - ★𝙇𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙣 𝘽𝙪𝙨 𝘿𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧★ (@BusSafetyRep) April 14, 2020
He told HuffPost UK: “A lot of our nurses come to work by bus, and a lot of support staff, including cleaners, rely on night buses because the Tube is too expensive.
“A lot of people can’t afford to live in central London and need to travel in to the hospital, so bus drivers are absolutely vital for us.
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“When we heard last week that five bus drivers had died, as the total was then, I was happy to do whatever I could to support them – without them, our frontline staff can’t get to work.
“When people clapped for the NHS last week, my unit returned the clap for public transport workers.”
Union bosses have also called for bus drivers to be provided with adequate PPE, and have their cabs properly sealed off to protect them. Outside London, drivers are calling for only cashless payments to be accepted, to limit their public interaction.
Unite national officer for passenger transport, Bobby Morton, said: “Bus drivers across the UK are becoming incredibly fearful for their safety.
“Most bus companies have introduced safety measures but clearly more needs to be done.”
Health secretary Matt Hancock said on Wednesday he accepted the government needed “to do more” for the care sector, which is why he had unveiled a new plan to give workers badges. They will allow those in the care sector priority access to shops, among other privileges.