thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-26--Trauma Of Coronavirus Frontline Could Leave NHS Staff With Flashbacks, Anxiety And PTSD

“It’s heartbreaking to witness the toll this virus is having on the mental health of frontline staff,” she said.
“Anecdotally, we’re hearing of rises in frontline staff attempting suicide and of more NHS staff seeking mental health services.
“I’m getting messages at 2am from frontline workers who are unable to sleep because of the stress they are under at work and the risk of passing this virus onto their families. Many frontline staff are palpably scared to go into work – and it’s taking its toll.”
The NHS is working to set up a helpline specifically aimed at staff struggling with the pressures of the pandemic.
It will be manned by as many as 1,500 volunteers and will be open between 7pm and 11pm, while a text service will be available around the clock.
Molodynski describes this as “a good start” but says the government has not “publicly or behind the scenes” given PTSD enough thought.
He suggests an NHS covenant similar to that being brought forward to support the military.
Asked what else could be done, he said: “Public support helps [as does] camaraderie within and between NHS teams, but neither of these will be enough.
“We need to be developing now a system that can provide decent quality medical and psychological input for these staff as they start to present down the line.
“Some have already presented but many many more will. The current mental health system can barely cope as it is and waits can be over a year for basic care – this would be unthinkable for NHS staff scarred by what they have done and seen.”
The psychiatrist said austerity has already left mental health services “genuinely unable to meet the needs of the population humanely”.
Of the PTSD crisis he predicts post-Covid, he added: “This surge cannot be accommodated and will likely lead to an excess of deaths, especially as the recession or depression we are entering will very significantly raise suicide rates too.”
Allin-Khan also said ministers should be thinking now about how to ensure there was a universal standard on mental health once the coronavirus peak subsides.
“The government must ensure that mental health support is available now, for all NHS workers and care staff, for as long as they need it – this must include PTSD services,” she said.
“There must be a national mental health package – not a postcode lottery depending on the resources that local trusts and councils can offer.
“We proudly clap for our carers and NHS workers every Thursday. We need to also show our gratitude by protecting their mental health in the coming weeks, months and years to come. They deserve it.”
Liverpool University has set up an online resource to support NHS staff with their mental health. It can be accessed here.
HuffPost UK has approached the Department for Health and Social Care for comment.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-26--How To Shape Your Eyebrows At Home

How To Shape Your Eyebrows At Home

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Bigger is better when it comes to eyebrows. It’s a convenient truth for the current situation we find ourselves in. But with quarantine comes more time to examine ourselves in the mirror, and potentially more temptation to make, er, tweaks.
Tackling your own brows is a delicate dance. One wrong pluck can affect your whole face. It’s low on the list of things to be concerned about during the coronavirus outbreak, but if you’re abiding by shelter-in-place guidelines, you may find yourself wanting to clean things up, especially if you typically go someplace to have them done.
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Sania Vucetaj, celebrity brow specialist and founder of Sania’s Brow Bar in New York City, has been fielding questions from clients since temporarily shutting down her space in line with the mandated closing of nonessential businesses.
“The first thing I tell them is to stay away from the magnifying mirrors,” she told HuffPost. “People are super bored right now, so the worst thing is to sit in front of that mirror and start going to town with it.”
As with the rest of the hair on your body, ideally you could just let it grow out until you’re able to visit the salon again. But if you’re going to try taming your brows at home, Vucetaj has a few tips and tricks.
Stay outside the lines.
The first thing you want to do, Vucetaj said, is outline your brow shape with a pencil in a shade that matches your brow colour (she makes one herself). To outline, lift at the arch and lightly go over the natural curve of your brow. Here’s a helpful video. Whatever lies inside that line is what she calls “the red zone.”
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“Step back, make sure they look symmetrical and make sure you didn’t make them too thin, because you’re going to tweeze around that line,” she said. “Once you create a strong barrier, then you tweeze lightly underneath the corners and in the middle ― but that’s it. You don’t want to go into the shape, you don’t want to try to create something. You just want to give a little bit of clean up.”
Take stock of your tools.
It’s worth investing in proper tools like tweezers and scissors for a few reasons.
“A lot of tweezers break the hairs because either they’re too sharp or pointy, which is wrong,” Vucetaj said. “They should have a slanted tip. You need to pull by the root of the hair so you grab it in full, which prevents ingrown hairs and breakage.”
Tread lightly with trimming.
While trimming is not a necessary step for everyone, Vucetaj offered advice on how to figure out whether you need to do it if your hairs have grown long.
“Brush the hairs upward,” Vucetaj said. “If they’re super long and messy, you just trim the very tips — not to create shape, just to keep them neat-looking. If you brush them up and the hairs are sitting layered over each other, you don’t need to trim.”
And in this case, she added, “better to do less more often than too much.”
Watch where you put your product.
If you’re using this opportunity to grow your brows back in, Vucetaj has a tip for promoting growth — not a product, but rather lack thereof. Basically, she recommends keeping any serums, lotions or creams that you typically use as part of your skin care routine away from the area.
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“This is a great time to avoid anything on your brows and really let the hairs come through,” she said. “I strongly suggest — and I know from experience — that if you don’t put any creams or lotions on or around the brows, your brows will grow back. It’s really about letting the hair follicles breathe. It’s like your scalp.”
Don’t worry, you’ll bounce back.
Even if you don’t do a single thing, it will be very easy to restore your brows to their previous condition once you can get back to the salon.
“It’s actually going to be better if you let them go because you have more to work with,” Vucetaj said. “Two or three months in the house not doing much to your brows is an amazing thing. Brows is the one thing where the longer you wait, the better they’re gonna look.”
For more information, head to Vucetaj’s Instagram, which is full of information on brow maintenance ― and mesmerising videos of her staff doing tutorials.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-26--How Often Do You Need To Wash The Leggings You’re Living In?

iprogressman via Getty Images As long as you're not exercising in your leggings, it's likely healthy to go a week or two without washing them.
We’re all spending a lot more time in leggings during the coronavirus pandemic, throwing on the same hoodie and stretchy bottoms day after day. And many of us staying at home aren’t washing them as often as we would back in the pre-lockdown days when we were out and about.
What at first may have felt like a welcome reprieve from zipping into pencil skirts and donning restrictive blazers might now have you questioning: Is it disgusting to wear the same comfy clothes throughout the week without laundering them? And beyond just being gross, are there any health risks?
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“Notwithstanding the coronavirus, the biggest contamination that can happen on clothing is bacteria that would come naturally from one’s body,” Lori A. Hoepner, an associate professor at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University School of Public Health, told HuffPost. “We produce a lot of bacteria, especially in the various crevices where the skin folds and touches itself and there is sweat.”
But as long as you’re staying home in those clothes, Hoepner said, rewearing loungewear without washing “not a major concern, as long as you’re OK with your own body odour.”
If you only don leisure clothes in the house — and not for exercise — “then you can go for a week or even two” without washing, said Preeti Aryna, Fashion Institute of Technology assistant professor of textile development and marketing.
If you have sensitive skin or dermatological conditions like eczema or psoriasis, you may want to change more frequently to avoid irritation caused by sweat, Hoepner noted.
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Hygiene also plays a role in whether you can get away with rewearing without washing. “It’s less of a concern if you’re showering every day and you’re staying within the house,” Hoepner said. “That’s for the average individual who doesn’t have health concerns.”
The Cleaning Institute recommends washing pyjamas after three of four wearings, but “if you shower before bed, you may get a few more wears before washing.”
Katherine Annett-Hitchcock, an associate professor in North Carolina State University’s department of textile and apparel technology and management, acknowledges that how often you do washing “is a really personal issue” depending on those additional circumstances.
“I can’t say,” she told HuffPost when asked for a washing frequency suggestion. ”I do laundry once a week.”
Keep the coronavirus in mind
Even if you take a secluded walk or bring Fido out for a trip around the block, “I don’t think there’s any reason to be concerned,” Hoepner said. But if you go to the grocery store or on a Target run in your around-the-house sweats, Hoepner advises changing and storing those clothes separately, especially if you share a home with someone susceptible to Covid-19.
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“If one has vulnerable individuals or one is vulnerable, it makes good sense to be careful,” Hoepner said. “If you’re going to the store or if you have to take public transportation ― anything where you’re coming into contact with people or surfaces ― it doesn’t hurt to clean the clothes and not wear them around the house.”
Even without the coronavirus, clothes exposed to public places and strangers are “definitely holding onto germs” of some kind, Hoepner said. “There are plenty of virulent bugs out there that exist on these nonporous surfaces that we touch every day and that are transmitted from other humans. It’s a good practice to keep your outerwear separate or wash it more frequently.”
What that means down there ...
So if you’re staying home and don’t have any skin conditions, you only need to worry about developing a signature stench. But what about yeast infections and other issues between women’s legs associated with wearing tight bottoms for prolonged periods of time?
Lauren F. Streicher, medical director of Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine and Menopause, said stories about such experiences tend to be anecdotal. And while moist conditions can exacerbate a yeast infection, they’re not likely to be the actual cause. “If you’re wearing anything that’s confining, you might get warm, you might get sweaty, but it’s not going to cause an infection,” she said.
Yeast infections result “from the gastrointestinal tract,” Streicher explained. “It lives there and sometimes if it gets in the vulva or the vagina, it will start to proliferate.”
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by Sigi Kolbe via Getty Images Giving your clothes a break from frequent washing can actually be good for the fibers.
Hygiene and preexisting health factors contribute, too.
“Some people use scented soaps and scented panty liners and wear lots of synthetic materials and do just fine,” said Holly Cummings, Penn Medicine assistant professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology. “But people who are prone to vulva irritation might notice things like that set them up for yeast infections and then you want to take a look at your clothing and your hygiene habits. It’s the overall sum of all the parts.”
If you usually find yourself on the warmer side and work up some sweat while bingeing “Love Is Blind” or baking banana bread, then you might consider changing and washing more frequently. And you definitely want to avoid hanging around in workout gear.
“If you’re sitting in your home office all day and going to sleep in the same pajama pants, you could probably get away with it,” Cummings said. “But if you’re going for a really vigorous run, that’s also your exercise clothing, and sitting in those for multiple days without washing might be more of a problem.”
Vulva irritation can also be caused by allergies to condoms, lubricants and washing detergents, according to the Australian medical information website Jean Hailes for Women’s Health.
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“It’s not a specific yoga pants thing,” Streicher emphasised, since repeated wearing of constricting pants without washing can be just one of many elements in yeast infections and other vaginal irritability.
To keep things fresh in the vaginal area, Cummings said your normal shower routine should suffice. “For most people, whatever you’re using as your soap or body wash is appropriate to use in the vulva area,” she said. “Just using water is also fine.”
Giving your clothes a break from washing is actually good for them
Health aside, will rewearing go-to clothes without giving them a cycle in the washer and dryer deteriorate them quicker?
“Washing clothes using machines does more damage to the clothes than the wearing of them does,” Arya said. “Wearing the clothes will not cause too much of an impact on the dimension or the durability or the performance of the garment, but clothes are really beaten up inside the washing machine.”
You can lengthen time between washes by being mindful of how you store clothing.
“If you leave everything in a hot, damp pile, the stuff is not only going to smell bad, it’s going to degrade the fibres quicker as well,” Annett-Hitchcock said. “Hang it up so the air can get to it, leave it there overnight, and you might find that the next day, it’s fine. Open your windows, let the air circulate. Don’t bunch stuff together in the closet.”
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Natural fibres or blends of natural fibres, such as cotton, silk and wool, tend not to stink as much, since they absorb less sweat than synthetics. If you opt for synthetic fibres — like if you’re working from home in Lululemon leggings, made mostly from combinations of nylon, polyester and Lycra — seek out moisture-wicking ones.
“You’ll find that a lot of athletic companies are developing their own proprietary fiber and fabric technology,” Annett-Hitchcock said. For example, Lululemon boasts sweat-wicking Luon and Luxtreme fabrics, Under Armour incorporates HeatGear technology, and Accel Lifestyle created Prema, an “anti-stink” fabric that blends “silver-poly fibres woven with Supima” cotton, according to the brand’s website.
“Silver is inherently antimicrobial, so if you’re looking for something that is bacteria resistant, having silver in there is going to be that way,” Annett-Hitchcock said. “Hemp is also that way.”
In general, Hoepner said that good hygiene is key to wearing the same clothes over and over again, and clothing-related health issues are “less of a concern if you’re showering every day.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-26--From La La Land To Chicago: 20 Best Movie Musicals Of The 21st Century

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A few months ago, one of the things we were most looking forward to this year was the influx of big-screen musicals we were going to be treated to, with the likes of In The Heights, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story all slated for release.
Well, it turns out our excitement may have been a little bit misplaced.
The coronavirus pandemic has hit many industries hard, with cinema being one of the most affected with a number of films having their release dates pushed back by several months.
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Yes, that’s a long old wait, but one positive of being stuck indoors is that we now have the time to revisit some classics.
Here are our top 20 big-screen musicals of the last 20 years. And spoiler alert, Cats has not made the cut...
20. High School Musical (2006)
Disney Channel/Photofest
Dismissed by many as thoughtless Disney fluff upon its original release, High School Musical has ended up standing the test of time, despite what many critics would have anticipated back in 2006.
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The film focuses on teenage basketball captain Troy, his relationship with transfer student Gabriella, and his hidden desire to *gasp* sing in his school’s winter musical. All of that is interspersed with your usual teenage drama, high-camp sabotage attempts and, obviously, a mandatory dance sequence set in the school gym.
High School Musical was a mammoth success, bringing in the most viewers for an original Disney Channel film ever and spawning two sequels – not to mention shooting cast members like Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron to global stardom.
Stand-out numbers: Get’cha Head In The Game, Breaking Free, We’re All In This Together
Watch High School Musical and its two sequels now on Disney+.
19. Music And Lyrics (2007)
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Listen, we’re not actually sure whether this film constitutes a traditional “movie musical”, but it’s a romantic comedy with several full-on musical numbers in it, so we’re including it on this list.
Admittedly, Music And Lyrics will probably not be going down in history as a game-changing piece of cinema, but it’s a sweet enough film, with a lot of laughs (mostly at the expense of the music industry and fame).
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It’s the songs that really shine though, from the 80s pastiche of Pop Goes My Heart to the show-stopping ballad Way Back Into Love (even if we do prefer the demo version, performed by a sweetly sincere Drew Barrymore).
Stand-out numbers: Pop Goes My Heart, Way Back Into Love (Demo Mix), Don’t Write Me Off
18. Been So Long (2018)
Netflix
A hidden gem on Netflix, the British musical Been So Long didn’t quite get the fanfare it deserved when it debuted in 2018.
While plenty of major cities have been given the musical treatment in recent years, contemporary London has long gone overlooked. However, Been So Long focusses on a modern day love story set in Camden, and it’s amazing to see the capital looking so shiny and beautiful on screen.
Michaela Coel is obviously a star whatever she does, but the scene-stealer in this film is Ronke Adekoluejo, playing the protagonist’s best mate, Yvonne.
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Stand-out numbers: Love Is, I Want A Fella, Fire
Watch Been So Long on Netflix now.
17. Mamma Mia! (2008)
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We’re obviously well aware of Mamma Mia!’s shortcomings. True, it’s a bit all over the place, and it’s saccharine sweet to the point it’s worth visiting a dentist after watching. But by the same token, there’s a lot to love about Mamma Mia!.
As if Christine Baranski’s performance of Does Your Mother Know, Meryl Streep jumping into the splits for no reason other than she can, and a guitar ballad performed by Colin Firth wasn’t enough, Mamma Mia! is also a reminder that Abba’s music is even more incredible than you remembered (even if it is being covered by Pierce Brosnan).
And more to the point, has there ever been a more appropriate moment than right now to bring a bit of Mamma Mia!-shaped joy into your home?
Stand-out numbers: Dancing Queen, Does Your Mother Know, Slipping Through My Fingers
16. Into The Woods (2014)
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The film version of Into The Woods falls short in many areas (Disney’s involvement means it’s considerably more tame than the stage show it’s inspired by), but one way it excels is in the individual performances.
Emily Blunt and Anna Kendrick are fantastic as the Baker’s Wife and Cinderella, Meryl Streep earned an Academy Award nomination for her role as The Witch, and child stars Lilla Crawford and Daniel Huttlestone do justice to Sondheim staples I Know Things Now and Giants In The Sky. Even James Corden manages a touching version of No One Is Alone as the finale nears.
Ultimately, it’s not necessarily a must-watch, but for fans of musical theatre, and in particular fans of Stephen Sondheim, there’s a lot to enjoy.
Stand-out numbers: Prologue (Into The Woods), I Know Things Now, Last Midnight
Watch Into The Woods on Disney+ now.
15. Rent (2005)
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A film that’s essentially more for existing fans of Rent than your average cinema-goer, which is the main reason it’s fairly low down on this list.
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Some critics took issue with certain aspects of the film at the time, namely the way certain songs from the stage how had been adapted into dialogue (meaning spoken words randomly rhymed). The choice to have most of the original cast join the film almost a decade after their Broadway debut was also criticised, as a lot of the actors were noticeably older than their characters.
But for die-hard fans of the show, it was a treat to have the gang back together and finally have a version to watch and enjoy at home – and there are so many great songs, it’s still worth a watch even if you’re a Rent novice.
Stand-out numbers: Seasons Of Love, La Vie Boheme, Without You
14. Les Misérables (2012)
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On one hand, Les Misérables was hugely successful, winning three Oscars (and earning Hugh Jackman his first, and only, nomination), four Baftas and three Golden Globes, as well as having the biggest ever opening weekend for a musical here in the UK.
Film critics largely enjoyed it too, but for us, given the source material, this big-screen version fell a little short.
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Certain performances are obvious stand-outs, including Anne Hathaway and Samantha Barks in her first ever big-screen role, and with such well-crafted musical numbers as shown in the original stage music, there’s only so wrong you can go,. But we can’t help but feel a little of the magic was lost in the transition from stage to screen on Les Mis.
Stand-out numbers: I Dreamed A Dream, One Day More, Bring Him Home
13. The Greatest Showman (2017)
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The musical that was years in the making and pretty much defined 2017, when songs like This Is Me and Rewrite The Stars were absolutely everywhere.
Considering its success both at the box office and in the music charts all over the world, The Greatest Showman is obviously a crowd-pleaser, but for us its truly great moments aren’t the over-the-top productions or Hugh Jackman giving it his all as PT Barnum. It’s the quieter, more understated moments, like Michelle Williams’ much-underrated rendition of Tightrope or the first performance of Never Enough.
That said, we’ve never quite made it through the full This Is Me number without tearing up, either.
Stand-out numbers: This Is Me, Tightrope, From Now On
12. A Star Is Born (2018)
Warner Bros
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When we first saw the trailer for A Star Is Born, we had absolutely no idea what to expect from the film itself. Would it be yet another hammy attempt for a musician to make their way into acting, or a genuine star vehicle for one of the most famous women in the world? As it turned out, it was a little of column A and column B.
If nothing else, A Star Is Born finally proved to mainstream critics what Lady Gaga’s fans have known for a decade now: there’s a lot more to this pop star than just funny outfits and colourful wigs.
Yes, there’s a lot of scenery-chewing going on, Gaga at her earnest is always going to be the tiniest bit annoying and it could probably do with being about 25 minutes shorter, but we defy you not to be moved by those final moments.
Stand-out numbers: Shallow, Why Did You Do That?, I’ll Never Love Again
Watch A Star Is Born on Now TV now.
11. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street (2007)
Leah Gallo/Dreamworks/Warner Bros/Kobal/Shutterstock
An oft-underrated offering from film director Tim Burton that mixes his loves of the macabre and the musical. Johnny Depp obviously takes on the lead role of the barber who kills his customers and has them baked into meat pies, but it’s Helena Bonham-Carter who truly steals the show in our eyes.
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As Mrs Lovett, she’s charming but also nuanced, to the point you can’t help but feel a little sorry for her when you see the lengths she’ll go to in order to escape her desperate life and be with the man she loved. Murdering and forcing people into inadvertent cannibalism probably isn’t the most ethical way to go about it though, we should stress.
Stand-out numbers: The Worst Pies In London, By The Sea, Not While I’m Around
10. Hedwig And The Angry Inch (2001)
Sophie Giraud/New Line/Kobal/Shutterstock
Certainly one of the most bizarre big-screen musicals of the last 20 years, Hedwig And The Angry Inch – like the stage show it’s inspired by – gained cult status upon its release in 2001, thanks to its glam rock-inspired numbers and its unusual premise. The film follows the titular rock singer Hedwig and her back-up band, the Angry Inch, as she tours fish restaurants around the US, telling her life story and generally making a show of herself.
It’s definitely not to everyone’s tastes, but it’s definitely one fans of musical theatre, and cinema in general, should watch at least once.
Stand-out numbers: The Origin Of Love, Wicked Little Town, Midnight Radio
9. Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
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Considering it’s the sequel to one of the most enduring family films of the 20th century, Mary Poppins Returns has been kind of overlooked since its release in late 2018, which is a shame because it’s actually a worthy successor to the Disney classic.
Many rolled their eyes at Disney churning out yet another sequel to go with their ever-growing catalogue of live-action remakes, particularly to a film that’s so revered and came out such a long time ago.
However, Mary Poppins Returns should be applauded for retaining the magic of the original, but also offering something new. The same can be said for Emily Blunt as the world’s most famous nanny, who made plenty of nods to Julie Andrews’ interpretation of the character, without necessarily making hers an impersonation. And the songs are just marvellous too (if you can overlook that dodgy rhyming slang in Trip A Little Light Fantastic, that is).
Stand-out numbers: Can You Imagine That?, A Cover Is Not The Book, Nowhere To Go But Up
Watch Mary Poppins and Mary Poppins Returns on Disney+ now.
8. Dreamgirls (2006)
David James/Dreamworks/Kobal/Shutterstock
There’s a lot we could write about Dreamgirls – the film based on a Broadway musical with allusions to the birth of Motown and the career of the Supreme – but Beyoncé belting out Listen and, oh yes, Jennifer Hudson’s literal Oscar win probably say it all for us.
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Dreamgirls is an unusual one in that starts off as a film with performances in it before switching it up to full-blown musical halfway through, when the characters start singing to each other right before J-Hud launches into her iconic rendition of And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going.
This performance is justifiably often held up as the emotional highpoint of the film, but there are moving moments scattered throughout, culminating in that touching final scene when the Dreams reunite for their final stage appearance.
Stand-out numbers: And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going, One Night Only, Listen
7. Moana (2016)
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Those post-renaissance years of Treasure Planet, Chicken Little and Home On The Range will not be remembered as high points for Disney, but they slowly started a return to form in the late 2000s, first with the mostly live-action Enchanted and later with The Princess And The Frog and Tangled.
Of course, the mammoth success of Frozen came next, which was followed by Moana. This unique CGI offering has everything you’d want in a Disney film – it’s beautiful to look at, it has an empowering message and the songs are just fantastic. Oh, and not only are they written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (of Hamilton fame, who also has a brilliant part in the aforementioned Mary Poppins Returns) but one of them is a Hakuna Matata-esque buddy song performed by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
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Seriously, what’s not to love?
Stand-out numbers: How Far I’ll Go, You’re Welcome, Shiny
Watch Moana on Disney+ now.
6. Pitch Perfect (2012)
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The so-so Pitch Perfect 2 and genuinely-very-bad Pitch Perfect 3 have somewhat watered this film’s legacy down, which is a shame as it’s actually a subversive, completely unique and absolutely hilarious modern addition to the world of big-screen musicals.
Unlike most of the other offerings on this list, the songs in Pitch Perfect are actually lifted straight from the charts and redone as acapella numbers, performed first as restrained earworms by the Bellas and then as everything-but-the-kitchen-sink mash-ups.
True, numbers like Pitbull’s Give Me Everything and Nelly’s Just A Dream might date Pitch Perfect a little, but actually adds to the charm. The film is really as much about the laughs as it is the music though, making anyone want to join the Bellas by the time it’s all over.
Stand-out numbers: Cups, Bellas Regionals, Bellas Finals
5. La La Land (2016)
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Probably best remembered for that unfortunate faux pas at the Oscars, La La Land is a love letter to the golden age of Hollywood musicals, paying tribute to the likes of Top Hat and Singin’ In The Rain, but with a modern twist.
Obviously, we’re never going to complain about seeing Ryan Gosling up on the big screen, but the film belongs to Emma Stone, who was awarded Best Actress at the Oscars for her role as Mia. In particular, her final audition scene is a triumph.
On top of everything else, La La Land does a brilliant job of making Los Angeles look absolutely stunning, and escapism doesn’t come much better than that very first number.
Stand-out numbers: Another Day Of Sun, Someone In The Crowd, Audition (The Fools Who Dream), City Of Stars
Watch La La Land on Netflix now.
4. Hairspray (2007)
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An all-star cast, huge song and dance numbers and a string of absolutely iconic characters, Hairspray has all the ingredients for a perfect family musical.
Right from the first minute, Hairspray is tonnes of fun, but it packs an emotional punch too. Songs like You Can’t Stop The Beat and Big, Blonde And Beautiful might be obvious toe-tappers, but Queen Latifah’s character Motormouth Maybelle belting out I Know Where I’ve Been as she fights against racial segregation is a truly powerful moment too.
And on top of all that, if the thought of John Travolta spending an entire film in drag playing a middle-aged 1960s housewife doesn’t entice you, we don’t know what will.
Stand-out numbers: Good Morning Baltimore, Welcome To The 60s, You Can’t Stop The Beat
3. Frozen (2013)
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Considering the whole thing is a CGI animation, Frozen gives you the full Broadway experience – thanks in no small part to some excellent songwriting and stunning voice performances from theatre legend Idina Menzel and The Good Place’s Kristen Bell.
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In many ways, Frozen is your typical Disney film. It’s adapted from a classic fairytale, it centres around royals on an adventure, with a cute sidekick and hints of romance throughout.
Where it really stands on its own though, is the way the traditional is turned on its head, and we discover the real love in Anna’s life is for her sister, Elsa.
And we don’t need to tell you what a massive tune Let It Go is, do we?
Stand-out numbers: Love Is An Open Door, Let It Go, For The First Time In Forever (Reprise)
Watch Frozen and Frozen II on Disney+ now.
2. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
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A tragic love story, a celebration of all things excessive, and an ode to the Bohemian ideals of truth, beauty, freedom and love, Moulin Rouge! is all of this and so much more.
The jewel in acclaimed director Baz Luhrmann’s crown (and potentially a career high for Nicole Kidman too), Moulin Rouge! is a fast-paced, colourful and completely unpredictable journey that takes you to the most exciting and thrilling of highs, before then breaking your heart with its devastating final minutes.
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Every single thing about Moulin Rouge! is completely ridiculous and over-the-top – the swerving zooms and camera angles, the lightning-speed dialogue, literally every song choice – but that’s, of course, why we love it so much.
Stand-out numbers: Sparkling Diamonds, Come What May, El Tango De Roxanne
1. Chicago (2002)
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Come on, it had to be, didn’t it?
Following its release in 2002, Chicago scooped six Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Catherine Zeta-Jones and the first Best Picture win for a musical since Oliver! over 30 years earlier. And there’s a reason for that.
Chicago has everything you want in a big-screen musical: an incredible cast, stunning choreo (throwing it right back to the Fosse moves of old), and a dark sense of humour running throughout. It’s also beautiful to look at, with the elaborate fantasy sequences for each of the songs providing a stark contrast from the humdrum reality of life in Cook County.
And can we please just talk about the songs? All That Jazz is potentially one of the most famous showtunes of all time, but then there’s the undeniably iconic Cell Block Tango, Queen Latifah’s perfect rendition of When You’re Good To Mama and the actually-quite-chilling We Both Reached For The Gun.
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All this culminates in that stunning last sequence with CZJ and Renée Zellweger, and by the time they’re done, we inevitably want to get on our feet... even if we are watching in our living room in our pyjamas.
Stand-out numbers: All That Jazz, When You’re Good To Mama, Cell Black Tango


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-26--Why RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race Is 'Realer' Than The Original Series

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost US.
We may only be halfway through a regular season of Drag Race, but RuPaul is not letting that stop her launching the latest spinoff of the trailblazing reality show.
The Emmy-winning series has attracted more star power than a faux-inspirational celebrity quarantine video over the years, with everyone from pop stars, Kardashians, Olympians and even Nancy Pelosi dropping by.
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Now celebrity guests will get a chance to compete on the main stage for themselves in RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race, a four-part special event that debuted in the US on Friday.
Ross Mathews, RuPaul, Michelle Visage and Carson Kressley on RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race VH1
Who exactly will be blending, beating and, yes, tucking remains a mystery — joins hands in silent prayer for Harry Styles — but each week a trio of celebrities will get in touch with their inner drag queen for charity, with a little help from series veterans, including All Stars winners Trixie Mattel and Monét X Change.
“Honestly, it was realer than Drag Race,” Trxie tells HuffPost. “These celebrities are not performing. They are having authentic, transformative human experiences in front of us.
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“I was there to play the game, but — plot twist — the Grinch’s heart grew a few sizes,” she continues. “You really watch them struggle with this new skill. Imagine you’re doing drag for the first time, and it’s on this scale. This is high stakes, bitch.”
Trixie Mattel and Monét X Change BUILD Series
Instead of sitting pretty at the judges’ tables, celebrities will now walk in the contestants’ high heels through various fan-favourite challenges, which proved to be both satisfying and empowering for returning queens.
“It was a nice little role reversal, because, you know, full tea, sometimes these celebrities come judge Drag Race, and I’m like, ‘Who is qualifying you to give any critiques on drag?’” Monét tells HuffPost, adding how freeing it was to participate without the fear of being sent home.
“When you just allow yourself to have a no-fucks-given attitude, it’s more fun, and you just get better TV,” she says.
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Drag Race has seen many a breakdown and breakthrough in its 11-year run, and it sounds like the celebrity contestants will be transformed from the inside out. They’ll have to work through their own inhibitions to deliver the required charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent, leading to some unexpected revelations among the cast.
“People have different hang-ups about dressing up and what their family might have thought of them,” Trixie says about overcoming obstacles during filming. “But celebrities aren’t volunteering to cross-dress on national television unless they’re also looking to get something else out of it, too.”
“Drag is a scary thing,” Monét adds. “Even in 2020, when we’ve opened up our minds a lot about gender and sexuality. But once you let yourself experience the physical and mental transformation that happens with drag, it just taps something inside of you. You see it especially in the makeover challenges, where these dudes, who have never done drag before, are suddenly, like, simulating fellatio and twerking.”
Seeing the power of costumes, jewels and wigs made Trixie realise that she has at times “lost sight of the transformative qualities” of drag and gave her a new appreciation of the art form and the series.
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“Remember three months ago, when Twitter gays were like, ‘They need to stop making so much Drag Race’?” she jokes. “Well, guess what bitch, aren’t you happy? We went from a society who would watch, like, 11 seasons of a show we don’t even like for one gay kiss to complaining about too much gay programming.”
She adds: “Gay people, we get what we want, and then we don’t want it.”
Especially amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, both Trixie and Monét encouraged fans to support queens more fiercely than ever ― be it subscribing to a queer-friendly streaming service or directly supporting LGBTQ artists by tipping via Venmo.
“When you see these entertainers doing dope things, we should reward them however you can, because they are being creative for you to enjoy yourself at home on your 14th watered-down vodka soda in your apartment by yourself,” Monét says.
“Go to the mat for what you love,” Trixie adds. “Sometimes that means drag queens who are just trying to buy groceries for tomorrow.”
RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race airs in the US on VH1. A UK broadcaster is yet to be confirmed.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-26--We're Really, Really Bored. But Here's Why We Should Embrace It

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At the start of this pandemic, nothing seemed real. We were confused, anxious, and unable to digest what was happening. Many of us struggled to sit with the uncertainty of it all. But now? Now, we’re just... bored. Bored of not seeing friends. Bored of trying to find things to do. Bored of staying indoors. Bored of having no motivation. Bored of looking at the same four walls.
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And with that boredom comes guilt. Not only because of the faint throwback of our mum telling us “only boring people get bored”, but also because frontline workers – those dealing with sick patients day in, day out – would do anything to be sat at home, bored. They’re risking their lives every single day for others.
What’s weird about this is knowing it’s too huge a shift to not be retrospectively one of the defining moments of your life but because it’s also SO FUCKING BORING it’s really hard to see how it will acquire that status — shon faye. (@shonfaye) April 21, 2020
For many of us – me included – the feeling of boredom is a hard one to sit with. If your pre-corona social life was busy, it can feel like you’re retreating to your childlike, whiny self – “I’m borredddd” – when you have nothing to do.
Are we actually bored, though? Or just struggling to adjust? Boredom, according to researcher Dr Teresa Belton, is the “uncomfortable feeling” that comes from lack of mental stimulation, when nothing in your environment or thoughts engages or holds your interest. It creates a sense of being stuck, she says. But it shouldn’t be confused, as it often is, with having nothing to do.
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When boredom drags, we flip between restlessness and lethargy, and whatever we’re doing feels pointless, says John Eastwood, associate professor at York University and co-author of Out Of My Skull, The Psychology Of Boredom.
“We struggle to be self-determined,” he says. “It could be said we are failing to author our lives.”
“Boredom shouldn’t be confused, as it often is, with having nothing to do.” - Dr Teresa Belton
The capacity of boredom is necessary, however. In fact, Andreas Elpidorou, an academic philosopher and writer, says we’re “lucky” we have the ability to experience boredom.
“Imagine what our lives would be if we couldn’t, because of some neurological disorder,” he says. “We would eventually find ourselves in some utterly meaningless or boring situations but we’d never know it! And because of that, we wouldn’t make any attempt to get out of those situations.”
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How much is too much?
Too much boredom can be damaging, says Belton. But Eastwood believes the discomfort of boredom is good for us – like pain. “These uncomfortable feelings keep us safe and help us meet our needs,” he says.
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Our need to escape its discomfort can push us into trying new things, or doing accustomed things in new ways. While we’re in lockdown, having periods of no demands on our time or attention is beneficial in our usual, over-stimulating, productivity-focused, constantly active culture, says Belton. If we can let go of the expectation of being active, entertained or distracted at all times, taking time out to let the mind wander is beneficial to our mental functioning.
Because of this, many people sing boredom’s praises. Sandi Mann, who has written a whole book on why boredom is brilliant, says it’s essential for creativity. “This period of lockdown could turn out to be the most creative period in the history of humankind,” she tells HuffPost UK. “When we’re bored, our search for neural stimulation can lead us to daydream which can lead to stimulation of creativity – I have done the research to prove it!”
So how can we embrace it?
To really embrace boredom we need to do nothing, says Mann. That means not using our devices to scroll and swipe the boredom away – just be. “Let your mind wander. Go for a walk in your daily exercise slot. Or sit in your garden or by your window and watch the clouds and trees. Daydreaming is the key to creativity,” she says.
Look at time as a resource – a gift – rather than a burden, advises Belton. “It’s also an opportunity to try and slow the pace at which you do things. The current restrictions can offer the opportunity to pursue longer term projects, or to take up a new skill or interest. Getting really immersed in an activity that stretches one’s abilities produces a fulfilling sense of ‘flow’ in which one loses oneself and does not notice the passing of time.”
But, adds Belton, combatting boredom in the context of the coronavirus crisis can be harder, as it’s necessary to be aware of other factors that might also be in operation. “For many people, boredom will be experienced along with other emotions and circumstances, e.g, fear, grief, anxiety, depression, financial difficulties, loneliness, household discord, or constrained living space.”
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These may make it difficult to find the motivation, concentration or confidence to try something new. But if it’s possible to get stuck into something that brings a sense of exploration or achievement, she says, this will provide an escape from current difficulties.
Next time you’re bored?
“Stay calm,” says Eastwood. “Don’t rush to make the uncomfortable feeling go away without addressing the underlying problem. Remember, boredom is an alert telling us we need to become authors of our lives... don’t dull that message, head it.
“Avoid passive entertainment where you treat yourself like a passive empty vessel to fill with compelling experience. Instead look for activities that flow from, and give expression to, your passion, creativity and curiosity.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-26--What Is The 2.6 Challenge? Here Are 26 Ways You Can Get Involved

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This Sunday should have marked the fortieth edition of the London marathon. The postponement will have come as a blow for runners who’ve been training for months – but it’ll also leave thousands of UK charities down on donations.
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The 26.2 mile race raised more than £66m for charity last year, making it the world’s biggest one-day annual fundraising event. And, with other fundraising events having to cancel or postpone in the coming weeks, the UK charity sector is facing a £4bn loss in income as a result of the pandemic.
To raise vital funds, the organisers of some of the nation’s biggest fundraisers have joined forces to create a lockdown-friendly event, The 2.6 Challenge.
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The idea is to encourage the public to complete a challenge by creatively using the numbers 2.6 or 26, then fundraising or donating to their chosen charity. It could be anything – from running 2.6 miles to batting a cricket ball up and down 26 times – as long as it abides by c rules.
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The aim is to get active, but you could also make like nine-year-old Melissa, who’ll be sitting in a tub of cornflakes for 2.6 hours to raise money for the hospice her mum works at. Celebrities including Ellie Goulding, Stephen Fry, Ross Kemp, Gareth Bale, Piers Morgan, Davina McCall and Fearne Cotton have already pledged their plans to take part on April 24.
So what are you waiting for? Here are 26 ideas to help you get involved, whatever your age or the equipment you have at home:
aldomurillo via Getty Images
1. Walk 2.6 kilometres or 2.6 miles (in fancy dress!).
2. Have a 26-minute dance party in your kitchen.
3. Encourage 26 friends, family and neighbours to do a Zoom fitness class.
4. Cycle 2.6 miles – or 26 miles if you’re feeling brave.
5. Stretch with 26 minutes of pilates or yoga.
6. Shoot 26 netball/basketball hoops.
7. Hula hoop with 26 consecutive spins.
8. Learn a Tik Tok dance challenge in just 2.6 minutes – post the evidence no matter how bad it is.
9. Skip for 26 laps of your garden.
10. Have a water fight – winner is the driest housemate after 26 minutes.
11. Draw a chalk hopscotch for your neighbours to enjoy – up to number 26.
12. Run a marathon in your garden or on your balcony.
13. Plank for 2.6 minutes (156 seconds).
14. Juggle for 2.6 minutes.
15. Do 26 keepy uppies.
16. Jump for 26 minutes on a trampoline.
17. Set a timer and do a burpie every 2.6 minutes. See how long you can go for.
18. Roller blade around your street for 26 laps.
19. Climb up and down a local hill 26 times.
20. Complete 26 star jumps. Repeat 2, 6 or 26 times throughout the day.
21. Enjoy some gardening for 26 minutes.
22. Create a circuits challenge and complete it 26 times.
23. Walk up and down the stairs 26 times (even better if you’re in a flat).
24. Have a three-legged race (that’s almost 2.6 legs, right?)
25. Complete 26 squats.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-26--It Didn't Take Long For Extremists To Blame Jews For Coronavirus

Even during these unprecedented times, anti-Semitism still rears its ugly head. Getty Creative
Life at present is far from normal and though our focus must rightly be on health and safety, when it comes to anti-Semitism, this old hatred adapts to the new normal without hesitation.
It didn’t take long – February, in Britain, before memes and messages were circulating online, blaming Jewish people for the virus, comparing them to it or, in one case, wishing any future vaccine be pork-based, an ill-informed attempt to condemn observant Jews to sickness.
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Elsewhere, an image shared on the Telegram online platform made its way onto other sites. This displayed a grotesque caricature of a hand-rubbing Jew with the globe for his body, concealed inside a Trojan horse with the virus at its head, entering a fort guarded by another caricatured Jew and welcomed in by unknowing citizens.
However, as studies have demonstrated what starts online doesn’t end there, and in this case, what starts in one corner of the internet, does not remain there.
It wasn’t long before the conspiratorial messaging was being pushed by well-known far-right figures. David Duke, the longtime Ku Klux Klan leader, asked whether “Israel and the Global Zionist elite” were “up to their old tricks”. The link between far-right and far-left conspiracists was recently exposed and Covid-19 is a subject that crosses political extremes. Over on the far-left, Jeremy’s brother, Piers Corbyn, was offering his perspective on what he suggested was a Soros-linked population cull. A tweet so bizarre that George Galloway suggested in reply that he “take a break from Twitter mate”.
“We will continue to do what we have always done: to understand the hate, undermine its purveyors, join together to fight it and educate about its dangers.”
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Of greater concern was conspiracy given voice by more mainstream figures. Bafta award-winner Rosanna Arquette, who herself has a Jewish family to whom she later apologised, was questioning reports about Israel’s efforts to find a workable vaccine, suggesting it had worked on one for over a year, “so they knew”. A lab in Israel was ahead in research because it had worked on vaccines enabled to target different types of virus, rather than a Covid-19 specific drug. Meanwhile, news of the first Israeli victim of the virus, Aryeh Even, an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor, was met with celebratory memes on Twitter.
Examples of conspiratorial hate from around the world are not hard to find. In France, a caricature of a former Jewish health minister pouring poison into a well has had tens of thousands of online shares. There is an article on Iranian-funded Press TV accusing Israel of engineering the virus, a former US congressional candidate asked “You gonna let those jealous, vindictive Jews get away with it?” and on State TV in Turkey, there were accusations that coronavirus was a war by a Zionist terror organisation. Yes, anti-Semitic coronavirus conspiracy theories have gone global.
Meanwhile, the FBI has reportedly intercepted messages circulating among white supremacists and neo-Nazis, encouraging members with the virus to target Jewish people by gathering and spraying body fluids at them and at the police. Such action, thankfully, hasn’t been reported, but it wasn’t long before a visibly religious Jewish man was refused an appointment in a car shop in New York and ordered to leave, accused of spreading the virus. That synagogues are closed, and missives have gone from Jewish communal bodies around the world urging isolation, means nothing to conspiracists.
Jewish groups have been seeking to build communal spirits online, but even the Zoom conferencing system is not immune to antisemitism. “Zoombombing” sees racist accounts hijack organised activities, entering meetings uninvited and spreading hate. One North London synagogue had some 205 people logged on when the group chat suddenly filled with “vile abuse”, forcing families with children, among others, to disengage. Though small in number, other Jewish online events have been targeted. The police are investigating, and the Community Security Trust, which has released a report highlighting five anti-Semitic narratives about the virus, has sent details to Jewish organisations on how to stay safe online, securing online spaces in much the same way Jewish schools and communal buildings must be protected.
There is no doubt the coming months will give organisations like ours, time to assess how we can work with government and opposition parties to ensure our digital environment is as welcoming and hate free as it can be, through the forthcoming online harms bill. In the meantime, we will do what we have always done, what is normal: to understand the hate, undermine its purveyors, join together to fight it and educate about its dangers. You can read more about antisemitism on the Antisemitism Policy Trust website.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-26--Ilford Stabbing: Baby Girl And Boy, 3, Killed In East London

PA Archive/PA Images
A baby and a three-year-old boy have been stabbed to death at a property in east London, the Metropolitan Police has said.
Police were called at about 5.30pm on Sunday to reports of a man and two children injured at a home in Aldborough Road North, Ilford.
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A one-year-old girl was pronounced dead at the scene, while the boy died in hospital where he was being treated for his injuries, police said.
A 40-year-old man has also been taken to hospital for treatment.
Police said all three suffered knife injuries and that they are all known to each other.
A murder investigation has been launched although police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.
Police are dealing with an incident in #Ilford #Redbridge this evening. Two children – aged one and three – have died; man taken to hospital with stab injuries. All parties known to each other. Police not seeking anyone else at this time. https://t.co/lAyGoHsp2n — Metropolitan Police | #StayHomeSaveLives (@metpoliceuk) April 26, 2020
Redbridge council leader Jas Athwal tweeted: “Earlier today there was an incident in Ilford.
“Two young children have passed away & an investigation is ongoing. My thoughts are with the family and wider community who are grieving this unspeakable tragedy.
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“We ask that everyone please respects the family’s privacy at this difficult time.”
The London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance also attended the incident.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-26--Trump Attacks Media During Twitter Meltdown Following Disinfectant Remarks

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Donald Trump has fired off a series of sloppily-composed and confusing tweets after refusing to host White House coronavirus press briefings following his suggestion that injecting disinfectant could treat coronavirus.
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The US president said on Saturday that his White House press conferences are “not worth the time and effort” as a result of “hostile questions” from journalists.
And he returned to the theme on Sunday night as he threatened to strip reporters of “Noble prizes” and sue media outlets over reporting that confirmed Russian interference in US elections and within the president’s 2016 campaign.
The president was ridiculed for his dangerous comments on disinfectant. Almost 55,000 have died in the US having contracted coronavirus.
It is not clear what Trump is referring to as the Nobel Prizes (note spelling) were awarded for physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, peace and economics last year. Trump could, instead, have been referring to the Pulitzer Prizes for journalism. Several winners in 2019 investigated the Trump and his administration.
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Twitter
The president wrote: “When will all of the ‘reporters’ who have received Noble [sic] Prizes for their work on Russia, Russia, Russia, only to have been proven totally wrong (and, in fact, it was the other side who committed the crimes), be turning back their cherished “Nobles” so that they can be given ....to the REAL REPORTERS & JOURNALISTS who got it right. I can give the Committee a very comprehensive list.
“When will the Noble Committee DEMAND the Prizes back, especially since they were gotten under fraud.”
I’m assuming the president means Pulitzer Prize and not the Nobel Prize...not to mention the misspelling.
Do any Trump supporters want to defend errors like this? I just know if Biden did the same thing they’d be attacking him for it, and they’d be right to! pic.twitter.com/OvrxsavRTe — Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) April 26, 2020
"Noble" — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) April 26, 2020
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More than 2,000 Americans died yesterday due to a pandemic the president was totally unprepared for. He’s melting down on Twitter and trying to crowdsource frivolous lawsuits. pic.twitter.com/7PHvzjsC6w — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 26, 2020
As someone brilliantly said, all of Trump's rhetoric makes sense when preceded by the phrase, "Donny from Queens, you're live on the air:" https://t.co/7wYTBj3NwP — Caitlin Flanagan (@CaitlinPacific) April 26, 2020
The president’s ire appears to have been provoked by a New York Times piece about his daily routine, which doesn’t begin until noon, after spending his mornings watching Fox News, CNN and MSNBC.
Trump tweeted about that earlier as he called himself the “hardest working president in history” and went after the Times for reporting he “angrily” eats hamburgers and drinks Diet Cokes in bed.
He initially referred to a “hamberger”.
Twitter Twitter
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Trump said he’s often working late at night in the Oval Office instead.
He tweeted on Sunday afternoon: “The people that know me and know the history of our Country say that I am the hardest working President in history.
“I don’t know about that, but I am a hard worker and have probably gotten more done in the first 3 1/2 years than any President in history. The Fake News hates it!”
He went on: “I work from early in the morning until late at night, haven’t left the White House in many months (except to launch Hospital Ship Comfort) in order to take care of Trade Deals, Military Rebuilding etc., and then I read a phony stroy in the failing @nytimes about my work schedule and eating habits, written by a third rate reporter who knows nothing about me.
“I will often be in the Oval Office late into the night & read & see that I am angrily eating a hamburger & Diet Coke in my bedroom. People with me are always stunned. Anything to demean!”
One positive note: @realDonaldTrump did manage to spell “hamburger” correctly on his second attempt this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/oBkoz9BY8h — George Conway (@gtconway3d) April 26, 2020
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Tweeting on Saturday, one of the few days in which he has not held a daily briefing since the start of the outbreak, Trump said: “What is the purpose of having White House News Conferences when the Lamestream Media asks nothing but hostile questions, & then refuses to report the truth or facts accurately”.
The president’s tweet came two days after he used a briefing to muse about the injection of chemical disinfectants, drawing warnings from manufacturers and the nation’s top medical professionals.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-26--Derbyshire Hit-And-Run: Teenager Killed While Riding His Bike In Risley

Adam Barry, 15, who has died following a suspected hit-and-run in Risley, Derbyshire on Saturday. PA
A 15-year-old cyclist has been killed in a suspected hit-and-run in a village near his home in Derbyshire.
Adam Barry was riding his bike at the time of the collision with a car, around 9.15pm on Saturday, on Derby Road in Risley.
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Adam, from nearby Sandiacre, was rushed to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, but died from his injuries.
His family was being supported by specialist officers, Derbyshire Police said.
The vehicle involved in the incident was travelling from Borrowash towards Risley when the crash occurred just outside the village.
Police said it did not stop at the scene and is believed to have driven through Stanton, Ilkeston and Heanor following the incident, police said.
Officers want to speak to anyone who was in the area, or in Stanton or Ilkeston, between 8.30pm and 9.45pm, in particular drivers with dashcam footage or CCTV that may have captured a car with significant damage to the front nearside area of the vehicle.
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Detective sergeant Darren Muggleton, from Derbyshire Police’s collision investigation unit, said: “My thoughts are with Adam’s family and friends and I would ask that their privacy is respected at this time.
“Officers are working on a number of significant lines of enquiry, however we still require the public’s help to secure evidence vital to our investigation.
“I would urge anyone who was in the Risley area at the times above to please contact us if they witnessed anything that may be of help.
“In particular, those with CCTV that shows Derby Road and any drivers who may have dashcam footage that shows a car with significant damage to the nearside front.
“We also believe that, following the collision, the car left the scene in the direction of Sandiacre and drove through Stanton, Ilkeston and Heanor.
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“My same appeal goes to anyone with CCTV or dashcam footage in those areas that may help our enquiries into this incident.
“I would like to thank the members of the public who have already been in touch with us and have passed on vital information.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-26--NHS Chief Urges People To Continue Social Distancing Or Risk Second Coronavirus Surge

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British people need to carry on social distancing or risk losing the benefits of the lockdown by causing another surge in coronavirus cases, NHS England’s medical director has said.
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Stephen Powis said that despite the death rate, infections and hospital admissions decreasing, now is not the time to say “we’ve done a good job” and stop complying with the restrictions.
He spoke as government data showed signs that people might be flouting the stay-at-home measures in increasing numbers, with data suggesting a “slight uptick” in the number of people driving and requesting walking and driving directions on Apple maps.
Earlier, first secretary of state Dominic Raab rejected calls to ease the lockdown, warning the UK was still at a “delicate and dangerous stage” of the outbreak.
Powis said the number of infections had started to decline “not by luck” but because of social distancing.
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There is now also a “very definite trend” of fewer people being hospitalised with Covid-19, particularly in London, and there has been a decline in the number of critical care beds used for virus patients.
He told the Downing Street daily briefing: ”My fear, as the fear of all of us is, is that those curves won’t continue to go on a downward trend, but will start to go on an upward trend.
“We’re not at the point that any of us can be absolutely confident that that’s not going to be the case.
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“We want to avoid a second peak, we want to avoid a rise.
“And so I can’t emphasise enough that this is not the time to say actually we’ve done a good job, we need to stop complying with our social distancing instructions and government guidance.
“This is exactly the time to keep that up, it’s exactly the time.”
Addressing the data showing a “a little hint of more people walking and driving”, Powis said: “We need to keep a close eye on that, we all need to remind ourselves that this has been a really tough four weeks and we don’t want to lose the benefits that have come from this.
“We need to keep going and we need to make sure that the number of infections continue to decline.”
Powis meanwhile joined England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty in saying he would have “no problem” with the government publishing the list of who sits on its scientific advisory group for emergencies (Sage).
The secrecy around the group’s membership has proven controversial, while No.10 is facing questions over the attendance of Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson’s chief advisor, at Sage.
Environment secretary George Eustice, who was chairing the daily briefing, said the group’s membership needed to stay secret because it was “important that those scientists are able to have discussion themselves free of external influence and also that we protect their own security as well”.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-26--Watch Live: Environment Secretary George Eustice Gives Daily Coronavirus Briefing

Watch Live: Environment Secretary George Eustice Gives Daily Coronavirus Briefing
Government officials hold a daily briefing to update on the coronavirus outbreak in the United Kingdom.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-26--No, The First Volunteer In The UK's Vaccine Trials Hasn't Died

A Covid-19 vaccine is considered the ultimate exit strategy by many experts, and scientists across the world are racing to develop one that can be produced at scale.
The Oxford team hopes to have at least a million doses of its candidate ready in September, but foreign secretary Dominic Raab warned on Sunday that a vaccine “wouldn’t realistically come into play until the end of the year”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-26--368 More Coronavirus Deaths Recorded In England, Scotland And Wales In 24 Hours

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The number of people who have died in hospitals across England, Scotland and Wales after contracting coronavirus has risen by 368 in 24 hours.
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It is the UK’s lowest daily death toll in several weeks, coming just a day after the UK surpassed 20,000 deaths on Saturday.
The increase consists of 336 in England, 18 in Scotland and 14 in Wales. Data from Northern Ireland are yet to be published.
UK-wide figures from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) have not so far been released, so the total is taken from each nation’s individual reporting.
It brings the working total to 20,687.
As of 9am 26 April, 669,850 tests have concluded, with 29,058 tests on 25 April.
543,413 people have been tested of which 152,840 tested positive.
As of 5pm on 25 April, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 20,732 have sadly died. pic.twitter.com/3itql8uBPb — Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) April 26, 2020
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But the government tally is unlikely to match this figure even with Northern Ireland taken into account.
Environment secretary George Eustice said there had been an increase of 413 fatalities in the UK since yesterday, and said 152,840 people have tested positive – an increase of 4,463 cases since the day before. Of those hospitalised with the virus, 20,732 have now died in the UK.
NHS England said a further 336 people have died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus, bringing the total hospital deaths in England to 18,420.
The patients were aged between 28 and 100 and 22 of the 336 patients (aged between 41 and 94 years old) had no known underlying health conditions.
Their families have been informed.
According to the regional breakdown, 66 people died in the North East and Yorkshire, while 64 died in London and 57 in the Midlands.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-26--Eight Things You Need To Know About Coronavirus Today

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The prime minster is set to return to Downing Street as the UK coronavirus death toll tops 20,000.
According to the latest figures published on Sunday:
A further 413 UK hospital deaths of patients who had tested positive for coronavirus have been recorded in 24 hours, bringing the total to 20,732.
The number of people who have tested positive in the UK has reached 152,840.
Here’s the latest:
PM back in Downing Street
Prime minister Boris Johnson has arrived back in Downing Street after recuperating from Covid-19 at his country home Chequers, a Downing Street source said.
He is due to resume work tomorrow and will chair the morning meeting of the government’s coronavirus “war cabinet” - three weeks after leaving Downing Street for hospital.
The PM first said he had tested positive for Covid-19 on March 27 before entering his mandatory period of self-isolation at home.
Due to his symptoms persisting, Johnson was taken to St Thomas’s hospital on April 5. Just hours later, he was admitted to intensive care.
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He spent two nights in the intensive care unit at before finally being released from hospital on April 12 to continue his recovery at Chequers.
On his return to work the PM faces a radically altered situation. When he was admitted to hospital the nation’s death toll stood at 4,934, but as of 5pm on Friday evening, that number had more than quadrupled and now exceeds 20,000.
As the country enters yet another week of lockdown the PM faces mounting pressure to answer questions about a potential exit plan from the situation.
Despite originally setting a review date of April 13, foreign secretary Dominic Raab said on April 16 that the shutdown would be extended for at least three more weeks, with the situation to be reviewed once again on May 7.
At the Downing Street briefing on Saturday, home secretary Priti Patel refused to comment on what the Government’s exit strategy was, saying it would be “irresponsible” to get people’s hopes up.
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The row over inadequate levels of PPE and a relatively low number of tests being completed each day also continues to rage, with health secretary Matt Hancock’s target of 100,000 tests a day by the end of April looking unlikely.
The home secretary said on Saturday that 28,760 tests had been carried out on Friday.
NHS chief warns of second coronavirus surge
British people need to carry on social distancing or risk losing the benefits of the lockdown by causing another surge in coronavirus cases, NHS England’s medical director has said.
Stephen Powis said that despite the death rate, infections and hospital admissions decreasing, now is not the time to say “we’ve done a good job” and stop complying with the restrictions.
He spoke as government data showed signs that people might be flouting the stay-at-home measures in increasing numbers, with data suggesting a “slight uptick” in the number of people driving and requesting walking and driving directions on Apple maps.
Powis said the number of infections had started to decline “not by luck” but because of social distancing.
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There is now also a “very definite trend” of fewer people being hospitalised with Covid-19, particularly in London, and there has been a decline in the number of critical care beds used for virus patients.
He told the Downing Street daily briefing: ”My fear, as the fear of all of us is, is that those curves won’t continue to go on a downward trend, but will start to go on an upward trend.
“We’re not at the point that any of us can be absolutely confident that that’s not going to be the case.
“We want to avoid a second peak, we want to avoid a rise.”
Troops to operate testing facilities across the UK
The armed forces are preparing to conduct coronavirus tests across the UK. Hollie Adams via Getty Images
The military is to begin operating mobile coronavirus testing units which will travel to care homes, police stations and prisons across the UK.
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The new units will test essential workers and vulnerable people in areas where there is “significant” demand, the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) said.
The mobile facilities can be set up in less than 20 minutes and allow for hundreds of people to be tested each day.
Specially-trained members of the armed forces will collect swabs at the mobile sites before they are sent to “mega-labs” for processing, with results available within 48 hours, the DHSC said.
As of Sunday, there are eight mobile units carrying out tests across the country, in areas including Salisbury, Southport and Teesside.
However, the DHSC said “at least” 96 will be ready to be deployed by the start of May.
More than 10m key workers and their households are now eligible for Covid-19 tests, which can now be booked online through the Government’s website.
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Coronavirus vaccine ‘not likely to come to fruition this year’ says Dominic Raab
A coronavirus vaccine this year is “not likely to come to fruition” Dominic Raab has warned.
With the first human trials of a vaccine taking place this week, hopes had been raised about the prospect of a potential solution by the end of 2020.
A vaccine has long been touted as the only solution to fully ending lockdown, but there have been a number of warnings about the likelihood of this being achieved any times soon.
The foreign secretary told Sky’s Sophy Ridge: “We’re looking at the possibility of a vaccine. That’s not likely to come to fruition this year, but it could be very important if we get multiple waves of coronavirus globally down the track.”
.@DominicRaab says a vaccine for the #coronavirus is "not likely to come to fruition this year".
The foreign secretary tells @SophyRidgeSky a future vaccine would be important if there are "multiple waves" of #COVID19 "further down the track".#Ridge: https://t.co/47EzyI9agK pic.twitter.com/jF4aqz8byI — Sophy Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) April 26, 2020
Meanwhile, former former deputy chief medical officer for England Professor Gina Radford told Sky News that people should be “realistic” about the prospect of a vaccine.
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She said: “Firstly we haven’t at the moment got a vaccine so we are having to start from scratch.
“We haven’t got a hugely good track record with vaccines for this particular virus, coronavirus, the family of viruses.
“But having said that everything is being thrown at it, there are researchers all over the world trying to identify a vaccine.
“We have never seen anything like the effort that is being put to discover this vaccine.”
Global death toll tops 200,000
The global death toll has. now surpassed 200,000. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
More than 200,000 people have now died worldwide after contracting coronavirus, according to an official count maintained by John Hopkins University.
The total number of people confirmed to have been infected with Covid-19 has surpassed 2.7m, but without widespread testing in many countries the true number is thought to be far higher.
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Of those 200,000 deaths, the UK has recorded more than 20,000 fatalities – becoming the fifth nation to surpass the grim milestone.
The US currently holds by far the world’s highest death toll, with more than 54,000 deaths and almost a million confirmed cases.
France and Spain announce plans to ease some lockdown restrictions
Spain, Italy, and France – the worst affected countries in Europe – have started to announce changes to lockdown rules. Niccolo Guasti via Getty Images
France and Spain have announced changes to coronavirus restrictions, after weeks of lockdown designed to halt the deadly spread of Covid-19.
French PM Edouard Philippe is set to present the government’s plan to unwind the country’s coronavirus lockdown to parliament on Tuesday, followed by a debate and vote, his office said in a statement.
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The lockdown ordered by president Emmanuel Macron has been in place since March 17 and is due to be lifted on May 11.
Macron is aiming to ease some of the lockdown measures with schools reopening first, although the government has yet to finalise how it might work in practice.
France has also offered retailers some relief by saying it wants them to reopen on May 11, though some restrictions could remain in certain areas to delay a new wave of the coronavirus.
The death toll in France from the coronavirus now stands at 22,614, the health ministry said on Saturday.
Meanwhile in Spain children are preparing to go outside for the first time in six weeks as changes to the strict lockdown conditions were announced.
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From Sunday they will be allowed one hour of supervised outdoor activity per day between 9am and 9pm, staying within one kilometre of their home.
Adults can accompany up to three children, who will not be allowed to use play areas and must adhere to social distancing guidelines, remaining at least two metres from other people.
Spain’s PM Pedro Sanchez also said the nations’s residents will be allowed out to exercise alone from May 2 if the coronavirus toll continues to fall. People living together will be permitted to take short walks together.
Trump skips daily media briefing
The president has faced fierce criticism for comments made during his recent appearances. OLIVIER DOULIERY via Getty Images
US president Donald Trump skipped the daily White House media briefing on Saturday evening, blaming “lamestream media” hostility for his absence.
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Trump has come under fire in recent days after suggesting during a televised press conference that injecting people with disinfectant could act as a potential cure for the virus, as well as facing criticism for other bizarre moments during press conferences.
The president has been widely ridiculed for his comments, with household cleaning brands forced to speak out and urge the public not to ingest or inject cleaning products and warning that following the president’s suggestion could lead to serious illness or death.
Despite being absent from his usual position in front of reporters Trump still found the time to tweet, blaming the “lamestream media” for his absence.
He wrote: “What is the purpose of having White House News Conferences when the Lamestream Media asks nothing but hostile questions, & then refuses to report the truth or facts accurately.
“They get record ratings, & the American people get nothing but Fake News. Not worth the time & effort!”
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Meanwhile, reports from the White House suggest that leaders are preparing to replace the country’s Health and Human Service (HHS) secretary Alex Azar as the government fields accusations that too little was done to prevent more than 50,000 deaths nationwide.
Talks to potentially remove Azar from his post are happening after weeks of growing tension between the HHS secretary and other administration officials.
Just this week, Trump’s former 2016 campaign adviser Michael Caputo was installed as a top spokesperson for HHS ― a move reportedly made to give Trump more control over Azar, Politico reported earlier this month.
Father of thirteen tests positive for Covid-19
The father of one of Scotland’s largest families has tested positive for Covid-19, forcing his entire household into a 14-day quarantine.
Roy and Emma Hann, from Dundee, have thirteen children aged five to 28 – ten of whom still live at home.
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Roy’s positive diagnosis, tested after he was found to have mild symptoms, has meant that his home has effectively gone into lockdown with everyone in quarantine for two weeks apart from Roy, who is self-isolating for seven days.
The 50-year-old nurse practitioner told the BBC that despite his type 2 diabetes, he was already keen to ready to get back to work on the front lines of the fight against the virus.
He said: “My life hadn’t really changed, I just get to see my children more. I’m actually glad I’ve had it, it makes me feel more confident about going back to work.
“There’s so many in our house, we joke we’re going for herd immunity.”
Meanwhile, his wife Emma told the broadcaster about the difficulties she’d experienced feeding her family under lockdown, particularly when dealing with the restrictions imposed on item limits in supermarkets.
“The fact that we’re a big family means social distancing guidelines are challenging for us,” she said.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-27--Miriam Margolyes Has A Typically Miriam Margolyes Approach To Lockdown

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Miriam Margolyes is known for shooting from the hip and telling people exactly what she thinks, and things were no different when she was asked about the lockdown on Monday’s This Morning.
The Call The Midwife star had a typically Miriam Margolyes response as she backed prime minister Boris Johnson’s address to the nation, in which he outlined that lifting the lockdown too soon would risk “a new wave of death and disease”.
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Speaking to hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on the ITV daytime show, she said: “I actually don’t give a stuff about the economy, I want people to survive. So I think Boris Johnson is completely right about that. He’s not right about anything else, but he is right about that.”
Miriam Margolyes on This Morning ITV
On how she was coping with the situation herself, Miriam said: “Not very well actually, I don’t like it but I’m keeping all the rules and doing the right thing. It’s the only time I ever thought that I would agree with Mr. Johnson, but I do and we’ve all just got to stick it.
“I didn’t think that I was going to have to spend the rest of my life sitting in my kitchen. But I have got a garden… and that’s lovely.
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“I’ve been out in the garden a lot, but I won’t do housework. I won’t do exercises. I just really do Netflix and read books and chat to my friends. And I call out to the neighbours across the road, so I am rather noisy.”
Miriam also said she had been out sitting on the front steps of her Victorian house “shouting at people going past” for some company.
She joked; “I bought [my house] in 1973 for £21,500. Now it’s worth over a couple of million. So who’s a clever girl? But I had to borrow the money from my parents to get it. Because I didn’t earn squidly squat when I was starting.
“I sit on the top step and I just shout at people going past. It’s human contact. Some run a mile of course, but some do come and talk to me and that’s lovely.”
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Miriam is isolating separately from her partner of over 50 years, Heather, as they do not normally live together.
The actor said she would have “loved” to have been locked down together, but admitted: “I don’t know whether she would because she’s an introvert. So she likes to be quiet and get on with her work.
“I was lucky enough to find someone who was prepared to love me, I’m not that loveable - I’m smelly and noisy and all that sort of thing. But she loves me and I want to be with her for the rest of my life, that’s all I want.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-27--Coronavirus Is Enforcing New Gender Roles At Home

Getty Creative I am one of the many self-employed women thrust into full-time childcare.
Figuring out how to work at the moment and look after your children at the same time is an impossible puzzle to solve for many parents.The famous (and hilarious) Robert Kelly interview springs to mind to remind us all how challenging working at home with your kids can be.
With the Government’s Job Retention Scheme now live, the recently updated guidelines stating parents can request to be furloughed if they are unable to work because they need to look after children will come as a relief to many. However, deciding if or which parent might request this can be a difficult decision with mounting fears around job security.
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For millions of parents, figuring out how to look after children feels like a huge task. There is no perfect answer, and the playing field isn’t level. Individually, households are trying to make it work, planning shifts with the kids or trying to snatch precious time to work around naps and TV time.
Having only recently returned to work after having my second baby, my work as a freelancer is less stable and frequent than my partner’s. So while he works at home, my role is now (like so many other parents) to look after our children.
Due to my recent maternity leave, and relatively new move into self-employment, I am among the estimated half a million self-employed mothers set to receive less financial support because of having a baby. While I previously relished time not working in order to be with my children, now that I am less able to work or earn, I’m questioning my value and contribution.
“Work for many of us gives us a sense of identity, an outlet for creativity, a sense of purpose and of course financial stability.”
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I know I am not alone in figuring out the new normal. On the grand scale of corona stresses this is low-level stuff, but across the country millions of parents are faced with similar dilemmas. Parents are taking on childcare and home schooling, and needing to adjust to a brand new job overnight. Many, like me, are reducing or stopping their normal jobs, unsure when they will get them back and having to rethink their roles. It remains unclear when schools and nurseries will re-open, and the varying strategies for doing so around the world offers no clear path for the UK to follow in terms of a return to education and childcare.
Clearly the most critical role for most of us without front line jobs is to stay home, and with this also comes a need to stop judging ourselves so harshly or feeling guilt for not being able to work or being as productive as usual.
As I adjust to my new job as a stay at home parent I am increasingly thinking about the value we place on work and childcare. I’m not used to such gendered roles at home, having always been fairly equal with my partner in our approach to parenting and our finances. Now I am only working a little I find myself feeling a bit like an old school version of a housewife, carrying the baby while he works.
Why do some of us feel like we aren’t working or contributing, when of course being a parent is a full-time job? There’s a very Pinterest friendly quote I often remember: “Children are not a distraction from more important work, they are the most important work”, which is, of course, true. One silver lining for many of us in the current situation is the gift we are given of spending more time with our children. However, work for many of us gives us a sense of identity, an outlet for creativity, a sense of purpose and of course financial stability.
For now I’ve been trying to learn to embrace my new role; enjoying my daily routine with my kids, carving out special chunks of time to work when I can and reminding myself my job at the moment is to look after my family and help other people do big important work while staying at home.
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We’re going to enter a new period of change and recalibration soon, and the roles we find ourselves in are only temporary. Societally, we have to remember that looking after children is a job – and a really important one at that. Parents have been given a difficult challenge in figuring out childcare, and the solution will look different for all of us. We must learn to give parents and carers credit for childcare, and learn together how we balance work, life, kids and everything else in this new normal.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-27--Everyone Has Become Obsessed With The BBC News Theme – Here's Our 10 Favourite Covers

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With things as they are at the moment, we’ve been hearing a lot more of the BBC News theme in the last few weeks.
While the sound of it is frequently followed by bad news and depressing updates, there’s been some creative types out there who’ve been putting a positive spin on the tune.
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From remixes to hilarious TikTok videos, the theme has taken on a new life on social media during lockdown, which has confirmed what we’ve long suspected – it is a proper banger.
Here’s just some of our favourite clips...
It all started back in March, when TikTok user Rach Leary had a DJ rave up to the theme
positively phenomenal use of the BBC News theme tune. Little does she know this is actually how we make the news pic.twitter.com/3Zx8pw2eeM — Sophia Smith Galer (@sophiasgaler) March 24, 2020
BBC North West’s weather forecaster Owain Wyn Evans then went viral with a drum solo he performed to the theme after presenting his forecast from home
When they said try working from home I didn’t realise they’d expect me to do the music too @BBCNews @BBCNWT #BBCNewsTheme 🥁 #workingfromhome pic.twitter.com/DVXjDw0l8F — Owain Wyn Evans (@OwainWynEvans) April 15, 2020
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Since then, it’s been discovered that the theme remixes perfectly with Dua Lipa’s Hallucinate
Our top story tonight: @DUALIPA and the @BBCNews Theme are a PERFECT match. *Manic laughter*
More on this story as it develops. pic.twitter.com/UWsffhHTaS — Ben Howell (@piffleandwhimsy) April 26, 2020
As well as her classic hit, New Rules
Turns out a mashup of the BBC News theme tune and New Rules is an absolute tune pic.twitter.com/AHepOhgbfw — Calgie (@christiancalgie) April 27, 2020
There’s also been piano covers...
vibing to the BBC News theme rn pic.twitter.com/8Fflt1DMAa — Joe Jenkins (@JoeJenkinsMusic) April 19, 2020
Guitar solos...
And a dhol version...
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Many of which were featured in an epic mash up on the BBC’s Big Night In last week
Everyone has a part to play! 🎵
People have come together, while apart, to join Owain Wyn Evans' Big House Band and perform the BBC News theme tunehttps://t.co/a2vvygclKX #BBCMakeADifference pic.twitter.com/ElbihcI9mR — BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) April 23, 2020
Our favourite version? Well, that’s probably the vocal harmony arrangement courtesy of the Chester-based LGBT choir Proud Marys
Although, we also commend this interpretive dance
Interpretive dance to the BBC news theme tune, staying in is maybe getting to my dancer son! @BBCBreaking pic.twitter.com/x9025W2EH5 — A Fothergill (@annefoth) April 24, 2020
And if you wanted to know more about the composition of the current affairs banger, here’s a video of composer David Lowe explaining how he created it...
The BBC News theme tune is popular at the moment.
Here's David Lowe - the man who created it - explaining how & why he made it the way he did. pic.twitter.com/EyfDCIQUtp — dan barker (@danbarker) April 23, 2020


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-27--Doctors Are Seeing More Children With Severe Covid-19 Symptoms

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Doctors have been warned of a “serious coronavirus-related condition” affecting children in the UK.
An alert released by the Paediatric Intensive Care Society (Pics), a forum for those involved in looking after critically ill children, claims there has been a rise in cases of youngsters with issues “consistent with severe Covid-19” in London and other parts of the UK.
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It describes children presenting in hospital with a “multi-system inflammatory state requiring intensive care”, with abdominal pain and gastrointestinal issues a common feature in those who are ill.
*Urgent alert*
Rising no of cases presenting to #PedsICU with multi-system hyperinflammatory state, overlapping features of toxic shock syndrome & atypical Kawasaki disease, bloods consistent with severe #COVID19 - seen in both #SARSCoV2 PCR +ve AND -ve
Please share widely pic.twitter.com/Bj6YHLJ8zi — PICSUK (@PICSociety) April 26, 2020
According to the alert, children display signs similar to toxic shock syndrome (TSS) and Kawasaki disease – rare but severe illnesses associated with infections.
They may also have symptoms of inflammation around the heart.
One doctor on a paediatric ward, who asked not to be named, told HuffPost UK: “In paediatrics, information sharing between hospitals across the country is generally very good.
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“Up until the last week or so, paediatric wards have been very calm, with fewer patients than we would normally expect.
“But recently we have seen more children, up to around the age of 12, coming in with persistent fever and a range of other symptoms.
“Until recently I would have said it was correct that this disease was not affecting children as seriously, but I think now we need to rip up the rulebook. The situation, and what we know, is changing on a very fluid basis.”
HuffPost UK understands an alert has been sent by NHS England to primary care trusts across the country, as well as that circulated by PICS.
One alert circulated among north London primary care groups warns of an “apparent rise” in cases during the last three weeks, and says children with symptoms should be referred for urgent hospital treatment.
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According to the NHS website, children “can get coronavirus (Covid-19), but they seem to get it less often than adults and it’s usually less serious”.
The symptoms parents are told to look out for are the same as those in adults – a high fever and persistent, continuous cough.
Professor Simon Kenny, NHS national clinical director for children and young people, said: “Thankfully Kawasaki-like diseases are very rare, as currently are serious complications in children related to Covid-19, but it is important that clinicians are made aware of any potential emerging links so that they are able to give children and young people the right care fast.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-27--Mama Leopard Stops Traffic To Teach Her Mewling Cubs How To Cross The Road

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Footage from South Africa shows a leopard giving her cubs one of the most important lessons in a busy national park: how to cross the road.
The clip shows the leopard stepping onto the road at Kruger National Park to ensure the scene was safe. Then, once she determined no threat, the big cat fetched her two cubs.
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But one of the cubs needed a little more help than the other and cried out for its mother, as seen in the footage posted online by Latest Sightings:
“This was an extremely rare sighting, and you don’t often get to see a leopard mother relocate her cubs when they are still so young,” Thinus Delport, who filmed the scene, told Latest Sightings.
It’s so rare that Delport said he’s never seen it in more than 50 years of visiting the park.
“This just came to show that patience really does pay off,” he said.
Although the footage was posted last week, it’s not clear when it was filmed as the park has been closed to tourists due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-27--Michelle Visage Labels Jessie J A 'Cold Person' And It Doesn't Sound Like She's In A Rush To Meet He

Michelle Visage Labels Jessie J A 'Cold Person' And It Doesn't Sound Like She's In A Rush To Meet Her Again

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As a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race, Michelle Visage has worked with many, many stars. But one person who it sounds like she’s not in a rush to meet again is Jessie J.
The former Strictly Come Dancing star has branded the singer a “cold person” in a new interview, claiming that meeting her was not a “nice” experience.
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Speaking to Gay Times, Michelle admitted she didn’t get the best impression of Jessie when they met at a Drag Race show in Australia.
Michelle Visage Barcroft Media via Getty Images
She explained: “When superstars come in, you don’t know what you’re going to get. You don’t know if they’re going to be standoffish, not nice, a total cold person like Jessie J was to us when we did the tour in Australia.
“I don’t care if you put that in there. It wasn’t nice, I was so excited and then I was like, ‘Boo’.”
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Jessie J Stefanie Keenan via Getty Images
However, Michelle did compliment the Domino singer (we think), adding: “that bitch can sing.”
Something tells us Jessie won’t be among the guests on Michelle’s new BBC Three show, How’s Your Head, Hun?.
The eight-part series will document her life in lockdown in Los Angeles with husband David Case and daughters Lola and Lillie, as well as video catch ups with some of her famous friends.
After it was announced last week, Michelle said: “I am so excited to give everyone’s anxiety and worry a rest with How’s Your Head, Hun?
“When you see how quarantine life is with my family and friends, we will all be laughing together! Get ready!”
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Michelle was filming the second series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in London prior to the lockdown beginning and flew back to the US when production was shut down.