thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Rishi Sunak’s Furlough Replacement ‘Will Lead To Job Losses’, Experts Warn

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Rishi Sunak has been warned that his decision to replace furlough with less generous wage subsidies will lead to widespread job losses.
The chancellor announced plans to allow workers to have some of their lost wages covered by the government for six months if their hours are reduced, following the imposition of fresh coronavirus restrictions.
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Sunak insisted the jobs support scheme was focused on saving jobs that would have been “viable” if businesses were not hamstrung by the imposition of Covid-19 restrictions, by encouraging firms to keep people on part-time.
The moves were welcomed by the CBI industry lobby, who proposed a very similar plan, as well as the Trades Union Congress (TUC).
But Paul Johnson, director of the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said that while the changes were “understandable”, many furloughed workers were “now likely to lose their job”.
This is a v big change from furlough. Less generous. Only open to those who are working a third of normal hours. Understandable given need to adapt as economy changes. Can't pay all wages forever. But a lot on furlough now likely to lose their job. https://t.co/lFBEgKtlnP — Paul Johnson (@PJTheEconomist) September 24, 2020
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Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said the move would temporarily stem job losses but not stop them.
He said the scheme will not, on its own, encourage firms to keep workers on part-time rather than fire them because it will still be cheaper to employ one full-time worker than two on reduced hours.
But Sunak’s job retention bonus - paying companies £1,000 to rehire previously furloughed staff - will at least give companies the incentive to retain workers part time until firms are eligible for the bonus at the end of January, which he described as “a new cliff edge”.
“After January this scheme will not be effective at encouraging firms to hold onto workers in the sectors that are hardest hit (ie hospitality/leisure) - the employer contribution is just too high,” Bell tweeted.
The scheme on it's own WILL NOT encourage firms to cut hours rather than jobs because the 1/3 employer contribution means it is much cheaper for firms to employ 1 person full time than 2 people part time — Torsten Bell (@TorstenBell) September 24, 2020
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BUT interaction with the £1000 Job Retention Bonus is REALLY important here. When this new scheme is combined with that we've now got a big incentive for firms to retain workers part time UNTIL you qualify for the bonus ie the end of January is the new end of October cliff edge — Torsten Bell (@TorstenBell) September 24, 2020
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation said there will still be a “new wave of job losses” and warned that women, Black and minority ethnic (Bame) and young workers would be disproportionately hit.
Its director Helen Barnard said: “The chancellor’s initial policy response to the economic impact of Covid was bold and compassionate.
“We need the policy response to the next wave to be similarly bold, but the announcements today failed to meet that test.
“Jobs that have been viable in the past and will be again in the future need specific support to get through the current crisis.
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“But the design of this scheme risks undermining its success and leading to more job losses, by creating an unnecessary disincentive to employers to make use of it.”
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) welcomed the jobs support scheme and an extension of VAT cuts for hospitality, but warned of “mass unemployment” among hospitality firms and their suppliers following the imposition of a 10pm closing time on pubs and restaurants.
FDF chief executive Ian Wright called for a continuation of targeted furlough.
He said: “The requirement for staff to be working part-time to be eligible for support will not be enough to sustain hospitality businesses and their food and drink manufacturing suppliers – the squeezed middle - through a difficult autumn and winter where pubs, bars, and restaurants will have significantly reduced custom.
“The pandemic has had a far greater impact on some sectors of the economy than others – sectors that would continue to support millions of viable jobs once a vaccine is achieved and social distancing can end.
“Only by continuing a targeted furlough scheme while the current restrictions remain will we avoid mass long-term unemployment and the decimation of a sector that could otherwise support our economic recovery once the pandemic is over.”
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John Phillips, acting general secretary of the GMB union, said he would be studying the detail to see if Sunak’s plan was “enough to stave off widespread redundancies”.
“GMB is calling on all employers who have redundancies planned to halt those processes and reassess based on this announcement. If bosses won’t do that, the government must step in,” he said.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady and CBI director-general Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, who were pictured with Sunak in Downing Street earlier, welcomed the plans.
🇬🇧@RishiSunak has taken bold steps to save hundreds of thousands of viable jobs this winter. Wage support, tax deferrals and help for the self-employed will prevent unnecessary job losses as the UK tackles the virus. pic.twitter.com/Ewu2gYHzME — CBI (@CBItweets) September 24, 2020
But O’Grady urged the chancellor to go further by offering retraining and helping industries “facing a tough winter”.
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She said: “This scheme will provide a lifeline for many firms with a viable future beyond the pandemic.
“But there’s still unfinished business. Unworked hours under the scheme must not be wasted. Ministers must work with business and unions to offer high-quality retraining, so workers are prepared for the future economy.
“And we’ll be looking closely at the details to make sure there are strings attached.
“The government should target help at industries facing a tough winter, and provide more support for families most at risk of hardship and debt.”
Dame Carolyn Fairbairn said: “These bold steps from the Treasury will save hundreds of thousands of viable jobs this winter. It is right to target help on jobs with a future, but can only be part-time while demand remains flat. This is how skills and jobs can be preserved to enable a fast recovery.
“Wage support, tax deferrals and help for the self-employed will reduce the scarring effect of unnecessary job losses as the UK tackles the virus. Further business rates relief should remain on the table.
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“Employers will apply the same spirit of creativity, seizing every opportunity to retrain and upskill their workers.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Phillip Schofield Speaks Out About Mental Health Struggles: 'I Needed A Lot Of Help'

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Phillip Schofield has spoken about how his co-presenter Holly Willoughby has helped him through some recent mental health struggles.
On Thursday, the This Morning presenter led a discussion about mental health, following the news that the 2019 suicide rate among men in England and Wales was the highest it had been for two decades.
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During the conversation, Phillip raised his own recent issues with his mental health, which he said he’d be speaking about more in “the next few weeks”.
“It’s surprising how you think you’ve got a grip on everything and suddenly your head takes you to dark and scary places,” he explained.
Phillip shared his own experiences during a discussion of mental health ITV
Revealing how those close to him – including Holly – had offered him support, he continued: “You say that loved ones can be instrumental in helping, and there’s no question I needed a lot of help in recent times with people who sit right beside me right now, who helped me enormously.
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“Steph, my wife at home, my girls, my family… and loved ones can be instrumental in helping. I understand and realise that not everyone is as lucky as I am, to have sympathetic ears to listen to, or people that can even understand how you can help someone just by listening. But the first point surely has to be… reach out to the people that know you the best and hopefully you can find a rock that you can tie yourself to.”
Simon Cunning – the CEO of the mental health charity Calm – then noted that for those who don’t feel they have people they can talk to about their issues, “helplines and doctors are brilliant”.
Phil on This Morning ITV
At the end of the conversation, Phillip added: “I am not trained in any way, but all I know is that I’ve been to some fairly dark places in my head, [and] that when those clouds roll in… if you are patient, if you hang on, if you wait, then it is extraordinary how the clouds break up and a little bit of sunshine can come through.
“Don’t rush into judging your life because you never know where it might go quite quickly.”
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When the two returned to This Morning earlier this month, they even shared a socially-distanced hug, with the help of a giant plastic sheet.
This Morning airs every weekday from 10am on ITV.
Useful websites and helplines
Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.
Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI - this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).
CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.
The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk
Rethink Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0300 5000 927 (Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on rethink.org.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Where Are The Women In Netflix's The Social Dilemma?

Netflix's The Social Dilemma Netflix
We are waking up to the politics and geopolitics of data. By we, I mean us – citizens of both the physical and the digital world.
In the UK, the A levels fiasco confirmed the reality of how algorithms and unfettered use of data can scale up existing inequalities and perpetuate bias.
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Unaccountable algorithms in digital advertising curate and edit what we are exposed to, undermining democracy by presenting a different version of reality to each person, thus progressively making it impossible to share, discuss and argue over basic facts and news.
It is apparent the dark side of technology has grown wild in recent years. Too often, we only become aware of it thanks to the courage, bravery and dissent of those workers who are exposing it from within.
Workers at Amazon, Google, Cambridge Analytica and others have told us what lies underneath the benign face of surveillance capitalism – we seem to rely on whistleblowers in the face of the lack of accountability that dominates our digital ecosystem.
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It happened at Amazon, where employees opposed the sale of facial recognition software to US law enforcement agencies. And it happened at Google, where Meredith Whittaker and others demonstrated how dissent – to quote Ruth Bader Ginsburg – speaks to a future age.
Within this, Black women and people of colour have not only been at the forefront but have shaped the narrative around the ethics of technology, demonstrating that technology is not neutral however you structure it, and that algorithmic fairness and social justice need to go further than eliminating the automation of societal inequalities.
“The Social Dilemma does exactly what it advocates against – the elevation of one person to the position of saviour and silencing of the very people it claims to be standing up for.”
Part of the reason I wrote An Artificial Revolution was to give a voice to all the women in the sector who are leading the way. We are showing the world that data is not sacred nor neutral, and that if we love technology, we must change the way we think about a technological artefact. If unchecked and not inclusive, a technical artefact can turn into a tool of oppression which uses privacy as a form of control and power.
The Social Dilemma is an informative Netflix docu-film, and I am delighted that these issues are reaching so many and becoming mainstream.
But it is also a film that does exactly what it advocates against – that is, the elevation of one person to the position of saviour and silencing of the very people it claims to be standing up for.
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Among a sea of white male tech experts included in the documentary, there were less than a handful of female voices, and fewer still, people of colour.
Let’s be clear: I am happy when people use their power and influence. However, to paraphrase Ginsburg again, this must be done in a way that brings people along.
We are at a crossroads. As technology today builds on the trends of surveillance and datafication, this is the time to act. We must protect and harness the value and potential of our technological future.
Now is when we need inclusivity, honesty, and the courage to engage in a battle that brings people with us.
We need to claim our digital autonomy and dignity.
The erasure of the voices who are shaping this debate is not just a bad look, it is counterproductive too. Netflix, will you do justice and tell the world how it is?
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Selling Sunset's Jason Appearing On Gemma Collins' Diva Forever Is The Reality TV Crossover We Had N

Selling Sunset's Jason Appearing On Gemma Collins' Diva Forever Is The Reality TV Crossover We Had No Idea Existed

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Selling Sunset and Diva Forever are two of the most popular reality shows on TV, but we bet you didn’t know until now that the two have actually crossed over in a random collision of worlds.
It turns out Jason Oppenheim appeared on Gemma Collins’ fly-on-the-wall series last year.
Prior to finding fame on the hit Netflix reality show, which follows the employees of a Hollywood property brokerage, Jason met The GC when she was out in LA with former Celebrity Big Brother housemate Jonathan Cheban.
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(L-R) Jonathan Cheban, Gemma Collins and Jason Oppenheim. ITV
Jonathan was looking for properties in the Hollywood hills and was shown round two particular homes by none other than The Oppenheim Group’s Jason.
Gemma revealed her connection to him after Jason appeared on Good Morning Britain on Thursday alongside brother Brett to discuss the success of Selling Sunset.
She tweeted the clip from Diva Forever, which aired six months after Selling Sunset’s first season quietly debuted on Netflix in March last year.
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It almost goes without saying that Gemma made herself very much at home as she nosed around the multi-million dollar abodes, but she also pitched herself for a job working for The Oppenheim Group.
Gemma Collins and Christine Quinn in the same office. Can you imagine?!
The GC actually paid a flying visit to the brokerage’s HQ during the episode of Diva Forever, where Mary Fitzgerald could be seen working in the back of shot.
Gemma visited the Oppenheim Group's office ITV
Sharing her history with Jason on Instagram, Gemma wrote: “So pleased for the guys from selling sunset I met Jason two years ago
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″@jasonoppenheim !!! Ready for me to come on board and get them sales in #sellingsunset.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Ruth Jones Surprised To Discover Her Grandfather's Pivotal Role In The Creation Of The NHS

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Ruth Jones made a surprising discovery about her grandfather’s role in the creation of the NHS during an appearance on Who Do You Think You Are?.
The Gavin And Stacey star and co-creator is one of the celebrities taking part in the new series of the hit BBC genealogy show, which sees different famous faces tracing their family history.
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During filming, Ruth learned that her paternal grandfather had a pivotal role in the Medical Aid Societies in South Wales, which went on to form the basis of what became the National Health Service.
Ruth Jones at the NTAs earlier this year Gareth Cattermole via Getty Images
She said: “I feel so privileged to have been taken on this spectacular journey into my heritage and to have discovered so much about my ancestors.
“I’ve probably been guilty of assuming people from by-gone generations were stuffy, two dimensional and a bit dull. But my trip on Who Do You Think You Are? has proved the opposite to be true.”
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More details about Ruth’s family will be revealed when the episode airs as part of the new series, which begins on BBC One next month.
Ruth in character with James Corden BBC
Who Do You Think You Are? has delivered some big bombshells in recent years, but none quite so staggering as EastEnders actor Danny Dyer, who discovered that he is descended from actual royalty.
Meanwhile, Ruth has repeatedly shot down rumours that she and James Corden had been working on a new episode of their hit sitcom Gavin And Stacey, following the success of last year’s Christmas special.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Workers Can Have Wages Topped Up If Hours Cut, Announces Rishi Sunak

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Workers can have some their lost wages covered by the government for six months if their hours are reduced, Rishi Sunak has announced.
The measure forms part of the chancellor’s winter economic plan and replaces the furlough scheme, which expires next month.
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To be eligible employees will have to work a minimum of 33% of their normal hours.
For the remaining hours not worked, the government and employer will each pay one third of the remaining wages.
It means someone working 33% of their hours will receive at least 77% of their pay.
Under the programme it means employers will pay 55% of the wages of someone working a third of their normal hours.
The level of grant will be calculated based on employee’s usual salary, capped at £697.92 per month.
Speaking in the Commons, Sunak said the “resurgence” of coronavirus posed “a threat to our fragile economic recovery”.
“Our approach to the next phase of support must be different to that which came before,” the chancellor said.
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“The primary goal of our economic policy remains unchanged - to support people’s jobs - but the way we achieve that must evolve.”
In a warning to the public, the chancellor said he “cannot save every business” and “cannot save every job”.
Defending his decision to end the furlough programme, Sunak said the government had to focus on saving “viable” jobs.
“As the economy reopens it is fundamentally wrong to hold people in jobs that only exist inside the furlough,” he told MPs.
Sunak also extended the self-employment income support scheme and 15% VAT cut for the hospitality and tourism sectors, and help for businesses in repaying government-backed loans.
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The chancellor delivered his plans in the Commons, but Boris Johnson was not there to support him as he was visiting police recruits in Northamptonshire.
Downing Street denied speculation about a rift between at the top of Government, insisting there was “absolutely not” a problem between Johnson and Sunak.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--No.10 Forced To Clarify Defence Secretary's UK 'Illegal Wars' Claim

Defence secretary Ben Wallace ASSOCIATED PRESS
Downing Street has been forced to clarify the defence secretary’s claim that the UK has previously fought “illegal wars”, in an apparent reference to Iraq.
Prime minister Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said Ben Wallace was expressing a “personal view” when he accused Labour of presiding over “illegal wars” when in government.
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The spokesperson added: “Neither the government nor the Chilcot inquiry has expressed a view as to whether the UK’s participation in the war was legal.”
It bore resemblance to when Nick Clegg was forced to clarify his claim that the Iraq war was illegal when he was deputy prime minister in 2010, amid fears it could aid charges against the government in international courts.
It is the second embarrassment for Wallace this month, having been forced to apologise for breaking social distancing rules by shaking a man’s hand on his way to a cabinet meeting.
He made his “illegal wars” comments during a heated Commons debate on laws to limit prosecutions against troops for actions taken in operations overseas.
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At one stage, Wallace told Labour shadow defence secretary John Healey: “Much of the mess we are having to come and clean up today is because of your illegal wars, your events in the past, and the way you have run the safety for our forces.”
Healey hit back: “That is not worthy of the office of the secretary of state for defence”.
Tony Blair’s Labour government has long faced widespread criticism for pushing UK forces into wars into Iraq and Afghanistan.
In 2004, United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan said the US-led invasion of Iraq a year prior was “illegal” because it contravened the UN charter.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Liz Truss Warned Gender Self-ID Move 'Does Not Command Majority' In Commons

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Tory MP Crispin Blunt has warned ministers its rejection of trans people’s right to self-identify their gender is not backed by MPs.
The former minister also told Liz Truss, women and equalities secretary, that her controversial decision has caused “crushing disappointment” and anger in the trans community.
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Truss confirmed in a ministerial statement on Tuesday that Boris Johnson’s government would not update the Gender Recognition Act and allow trans people to legally change the gender without a medical diagnosis.
Amnesty International has described the decision as “extremely worrying” and a string of MPs hit out at Truss in the Commons on Thursday.
Truss, however, has said three more clinics will open and that the process will be “kinder and more straightforward” – namely by moving the process online and reducing the £140 fee to a “nominal” amount.
Asking an urgent question on the matter, Blunt told MPs: “Does (Truss) understand the crushing disappointment of trans people with the content of her statement on Tuesday when set against the consultation on which it was based?
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“Does she appreciate that trans people cannot discern any strong or coherent reason for this screeching change of direction?”
He added: “Does she understand the anger at the prospect of them receiving their fundamental rights being snatched away? The longer this uncertainty has been allowed to continue, the worse the fear and anger have become. Does she understand the delay in the statement has helped contribute to that?
“Does she appreciate that her statement does not command a majority in this House and will she confirm that is one of the reasons she is unable to propose any legislation?
“She has presented the House with an inherently unstable settlement that will have to be addressed hopefully sooner rather than later.”
Liz Truss in the House of Commons Liz Truss in the House of Commons
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Blunt went on to further target Truss, saying Johnson should not have given her the dual roles of trade secretary and equalities secretary.
He said: “Her acquisition to the women and equalities brief in 2019 was hardly planned. The prime minister had done her and the nation no favours by continuing to over-burden her after the election at such an extraordinary time for trade.”
Shadow women and equalities minister Marsha de Cordova, meanwhile, said: “After three years of toxic debate it is deeply disappointing that this government has let trans people down and dropped its plans to reform the Gender Recognition Act.”
Responding to Blunt, Truss said the “settlement we have reached balances the rights and upholds the rights of transgender people and of women”, saying it protects access to single-sex spaces.
She added: “I believe that we have come to the right conclusion which is in line with other major nations.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--The Gender Self-ID News Is Actually A Monumental Win For Trans People

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First things first, it should go without saying that the Gender Recognition Act is a mess.
The entire process is a cruel shambles, and no one should have to pour their heart out to a panel of strangers to be accepted legally as the gender they are.
It’s genuinely audacious that this happens, and yet, it will continue to happen following Tuesday’s semi-announcement.
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At a time when non-binary and genderqueer identities are more visible and accepted in other auspices than ever in the UK, it’s a bit of an unfunny joke that the government didn’t take advantage of this key opportunity to ensure legal gender recognition for all of our siblings.
None of this is to say that any of the lacklustre, surface-levels proposed changes to the GRA go far enough.
But it would be a lie to say the glib complacency from government is in any way a surprise to those of us who’ve been campaigning on this for years.
What is a surprise is that we miraculously ended up in a position a thousand times better than what we were expecting from the government just a few months ago.
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“Against all odds, and an endless slew of denigration, we emerged a united front, refusing to allow our existing protections to be touched.”
Mooted plans were about tightening the screw of exclusion of trans people from public life altogether, and of making things exponentially more difficult for trans young people to access healthcare.
But we came together, we fought this, and they listened, albeit partly. With the full weight of an institutionally transphobic British press against us and an uncaring government minded to swat away the justified concerns of trans people, we fought the law and… well, no one really won.
But all things considered, knowing what we do about the incredibly vocal anti-trans lobby and their ability to invade all discussion about trans lives, we came out not just to fight another day, but having stood with pride and in unison, we ever so slightly advanced something.
That is the monumental win I’m talking about – against all odds, and an endless slew of denigration, we emerged a united front, refusing to allow our existing protections to be touched.
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Transgender people and their supporters take part in a rally in Parliament Square during London's second Trans Pride protest march for equality Barcroft Media via Getty Images
Widespread social and legal progress are a bit “chicken and the egg”. Do stronger legal protections and basic recognition come first, or do we need a stronger framework of knowledge around gender diversity first?
People overwhelmingly want to make things less difficult for our communities, and are prepared to throw the weight of their institutions behind us when we need them to.
If the rigmarole that was the consultation and the cruelly protracted period while we waited for a response taught us anything, it’s that there are 20 people on trans people’s side for every one person insinuating we have big Stranger Danger energy when we try to exist in the public realm. Allow me this moment to force a silver lining out of every cloud, OK?
When the government runs a torturous consultation and the overwhelming majority of respondents are in favour of wide and positive change, you may expect to see that reflected in proposals.
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In more normal times, that might be the case. But this is a government and press which appears to actively want to ride roughshod over trans people’s rights and interests in favour of propagating some imagined culture war we’re neither interested in nor prepared to fight.
“We can’t afford to waste more time when the ground has completely shifted beneath our feet. We have bigger fish to fry and other things to campaign on for the genuine betterment of all trans people.”
Despite years of very real torment and anguish foisted upon our communities, that we managed to eke out (minor) concessions and continue to plough ahead is testament to our strength and resilience.
As one of the few trans-led organisations working within the UK, we operate under a double-edged sword. We witness first-hand all the indignity transphobes and an uncaring government have to offer us, while taking flak from our trans comrades for not openly sharing their righteous fury.
Trust us when I say, we do share it, but we also know all too well the costs of giving out only crushing wave after wave of negativity and hopelessness.
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I also believe we have to move on from the conversations around GRA: they open the door to too much toxic, one-sided debate, with too few asks that will result in meaningful improvements to trans people’s material conditions.
Frankly, no one could have anticipated the changes to the political structure of England and Wales since the consultation was originally launched: we can’t afford to waste more time when the ground has completely shifted beneath our feet. We have bigger fish to fry and other things to campaign on for the genuine betterment of all trans people.
We’re all tired. But we know what we have to fight for and where we have to shift our collective energies: informed consent in healthcare, and a continued, wider unpacking of the systems which force discrimination, hate, and misinformation against our trans communities.
Together, we plough on. Solidarity.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Just 10% Of Covid Tests Hit Boris Johnson's 24 Hour Turnaround Target

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Boris Johnson’s test-and-trace crisis has worsened after official figures showed that just one in 10 Covid tests got a result within 24 hours.
The figures for the week between September 10 and September 16 showed that only 10.4% of all types of test met the PM’s own target of being completed within a day.
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Johnson had told parliament earlier this year that he wanted a 100% completion rate by the end of June, but that ambition has never been met.
The latest figure is even lower than the 14.3% of the previous week, itself seen as a major failure. The week before that, the overall “within 24 hours” figure was 32%.
The proportion of “in-person” tests - conducted at regional, local and mobile test centres - has also fallen once more, from 33% to just 28.2% week-on-week.
With the public complaining of huge delays in even booking a test, the latest figures suggest the system run by Baroness Dido Harding is still struggling to cope as coronavirus begins to spread across the UK once more.
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The median time taken to receive a test result at Regional Test Sites increased to 30 hours from 27 hours in the previous week.
Similarly, Mobile Testing Units increased to 31 hours up from 26 hours. Times for results from local test sites decreased slightly to 34 hours from 35 hours during the same period.
Turnaround times for satellite test centres - used for care homes - and home testing kits improved, but are still well behind all other types of testing.
Crucially, the total number of test results processed decreased by 19% compared to the previous week.
Government insiders said this was more about results taking longer to be communicated to people, rather than a fall in tests being processed.
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The number of tests processed in hospitals and at in-person centres increased by 22% from 1,254,066 last week to 1,531,950.
The overall 10.4% figure for tests done within 24 hours is the lowest since the week to June 10, when the figure stood at 18.4%.
Just 1.8% of people in England who used a home test kit for Covid-19 received their result within 24 hours in the week to September 16.
The proportion of Covid-positive people reached fell again too, to 77.7% from 83.9% the previous week.
The percentage of “close contacts” of those who test positive edged up 73.9% to 74.7% - but is still well short of the 80% that experts say is needed to make the service viable.
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PA
Shadow health minister Justin Madders told HuffPost UK: “On just about every measure the system is going backwards.
“It is clear that the Government has wasted the last few months and has failed to get test and trace ready for the increase in cases that they should have anticipated.
“Ministers need to get to grips with fixing the system before things get even worse.”
Johnson told the House of Commons on June 3 he would get “all tests turned around within 24 hours by the end of June, except for difficulties with postal tests or insuperable problems like that”.
Much of the problem appears to centre on commercially-run labs that carry out the in-person tests.
NHS labs in hospitals have a much better record, with 88.4% of tests results returned within the 24 hour target.
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The government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) has stressed the importance of delivering rapid test results, ideally within 24 hours, to help limit the spread of coronavirus.
In the week to 16 September, 19,278 new people had a positive result, continuing the upward surge seen in recent weeks. Since the end of August there has been a substantial increase of 180% in positive cases compared to the most recent week.
But Harding defended the service, pointing out that since its launch it had now reached nearly half a million people (497,367), including both those testing positive and their contacts.
In a bid to improve compliance, people asked to self-isolate who are on low incomes and are unable to work from home will be eligible for financial support of £500 to stay at home, while those breaking the rules risk fines of at least £1,000.
Harding said: “NHS Test and Trace has reached a milestone moment this week, successfully reaching almost half a million people and advising them to self-isolate.
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“We are supporting those testing positive and their contacts to stay at home to stop transmission.
“The new COVID-19 app launched today will help us go even further, alerting users if they have been in close contact with someone with the virus, even if they don’t know each other.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--How The New Covid Rules Will Affect Your Gym Classes

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Can you still attend group exercise class in a gym, yoga studio or dance studio under the latest government guidelines?
It’s a question many have been asking on social media since Tuesday, after Boris Johnson announced the rule of six will now apply to indoor grassroots team sports for adults in England.
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The official guidelines on the government’s website state: “Organised indoor sport or exercise classes can take place in larger numbers, provided groups of more than 6 do not mix.”
Colin Anderson Productions pty ltd via Getty Images
The wording left us scratching our heads, so we asked the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport to clarify what is and isn’t allowed under the new rules.
“Gym classes and other indoor and outdoor sports will be able to continue, providing they adhere to the government’s Covid-secure guidance that they had to meet to reopen earlier this summer,” a spokesperson confirmed via email.
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“So in an exercise class for instance, you’d have individuals maintaining social distancing alongside all the other technical guidance (one way systems in gyms, for example).”
The spokesperson added that while indoor sports such as five-a-side football, netball and basketball will be limited to a maximum of six adults per training session, exercise classes – be that yoga, spin or dance – can continue with more than six attendees, providing social distancing is possible.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Zoe Ball And Norman Cook Reunite As They See Their Son Woody Off To University

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Zoe Ball and Norman Cook came together this week to see their 19-year-old son Woody off to university.
On Wednesday, Zoe shared a photo of herself and her DJ ex-husband as they dropped Woody – who reality TV fans will recognise from Celebrity Gogglebox and The Circle – off at uni in Bristol.
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“Bristol take care of my best boy,” the Radio 2 presenter wrote, adding: “LOVE for any emotional parents out there.”
She also shared a family selfie on the university campus with her followers, as well as a picture of Norman and Woody posing in their son’s bedroom in uni halls.
A number of other celebrity mums showed their solidarity with Zoe in the comments, with Davina McCall writing: “Holly goes this weekend…”
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Loose Women anchor Andrea McLean commented: “Fin left last week. Sat on his bed and cried... Then started tidying his room and ended up so cross at the filth it made me feel better!”
Gaby Roslin also said: “Sending big love. I remember it so well last year... He’ll have a blast”
Meanwhile, former Strictly Come Dancing professional Ian Waite, who danced with Zoe when she competed on the show, added: “That’s so cool. Love Bristol.”
Zoe and Norman were together for 18 years, but announced they were divorcing in 2016.
The former couple pictured in 2007 Stuart C. Wilson via Getty Images
Together, they have two children, 19-year-old Woody, who appeared on the most recent series of Channel 4 reality show The Circle, and 10-year-old Nelly.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--How The NHS Test And Trace App Works

How The NHS Test And Trace App Works

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The long-awaited NHS coronavirus app is here, designed to track the virus and slow the spread of transmissions.
The rollout across England and Wales follows months of delay and questions about the app’s effectiveness in the face of mixed results from other countries, which have already deployed such apps.
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However, Matt Hancock still insists the app represents “an important step forward” in our fight against the “invisible killer”.
NHS Test and Trace, which is responsible for the service, said the app was used to send alerts to users during a trial period on the Isle of Wight and in the London borough of Newham, after people had tested positive.
The latest version was piloted among residents of both areas as well as NHS volunteers from mid-August, after the first app was marred by technical issues and eventually scrapped.
Thinking of downloading the app? Here’s what you need to know.
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Oleksandr Siedov via Getty Images
How does the app work?
The app is designed to trace how the virus is spreading from person to person – and stop it in its tracks.
It works by using Bluetooth signals to track who an individual comes into contact with on a daily basis. When two phones with Bluetooth enabled come into close contact, this is logged by the app. The app allows users to report symptoms, meaning those they’ve been in close contact with will also be notified. You’ll also receive risk alerts for your postcode. The app also has other functions, such as QR check-in that you can use at entertainment and leisure facilities such as pubs and restaurants. If an outbreak is linked to that location, you’ll be notified.
Do you have to sign up?
No, using the software is totally voluntary, meaning its success will also depend heavily on how many people choose to download and use it.
An advertising campaign to promote the app will appear on television this evening, with the strapl-ine, “Protect your loved ones. Get the app”.
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Okay, but will it drain my data allowance?
Thankfully not. The UK’s major network operators, including Vodafone, Three, EE and O2, giffgaff, Tesco Mobile, Sky Mobile and Virgin Mobile have agreed to “zero-rate” data charges incurred by all in-app activity, meaning they will not be charged for using it and it won’t come out of your internet allowance.
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In that case, what’s the downside?
Trial data for the app suggests it sometimes gives “false positive” alerts, and Chris Smyth, Whitehall editor for The Times, claims as many as one in three people may be told to isolate unnecessarily.
Developers of the app also emphasise that its effectiveness will be determined by how many people sign up and preliminary research suggests we need at least seven million people to get on board to make any potential difference.
Back in April, the Ada Lovelace Institute also warned that there is little evidence that tracking apps can help in a pandemic – this is new, experimental ground.
There’s also been widespread concerns about data collection in relation to the app. Following the Isle of Wight trial, Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen said: “We’re extremely concerned the government may be planning to route private data through a central database, opening the door to pervasive state surveillance and privacy infringement, with potentially discriminatory effects.”
However, the government insists the latest iteration of the app “has been designed to use as little personal data and information as possible”.
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“All the data that could directly identify you is held on your phone, is not stored centrally and is not shared anywhere else,” a statement on the government’s site reads. “Any data that is provided from the phone will always be anonymised or aggregated, to prevent us and anyone else from identifying you or others.”
How do I download and use the app?
If you do decide to use the app, here are the steps you need to follow:
1. Download the app
Users can download the NHS Covid-19 app from Apple’s App Store on iOS or Google’s Play Store for Android devices. Search ‘NHS Covid-19’.
2. Set-up
Users will be met with details about what the app does and a privacy notice first. The app will then ask for permission to use Bluetooth to carry out automatic contact tracing, as well as the ability to receive notifications, should someone you have been near report symptoms or have a positive test returned. Prompts will appear on-screen asking people to allow the app to access these features.
Next, you will need to provide the first part of your postcode, which is used to show the risk level in your local area.
3. Interface
The main screen will pulse green to show that the app is active. Along the top you can see the risk level in your local area. Below there are a series of options to choose from, including venue check-in and report symptoms.
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4. Features
– Venue check-in
This lets people scan a QR code rather than manually providing contact tracing details. Elsewhere, users can tap ‘About’ at the top of the main screen to see a list of the places they have checked in. There is also the option to delete all data here.
– Report symptoms
Here people can tap the symptoms they have and indicate when these started appearing. It will then advise you to isolate and a countdown will commence based on the date provided.
A button at the bottom directs people to the government website where they can then book a test. The results will be sent in the usual way via email or text message, but also within the app.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Joe Wicks Opens Up About Mental Health Struggles Amid Latest Coronavirus Restrictions

Joe Wicks has candidly opened up about his mental health, admitting he had been “really struggling” after Boris Johnson announced the latest coronavirus restrictions.
Joe – aka The Body Coach – recorded a video for his Instagram followers where he admitted recent events were “really starting to take effect on my mental health”.
He said that he hoped by speaking out he would be able to help others people who are feeling the same to “know that’s OK”.
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“Now this is really starting to take effect on my mental health, it’s bringing me down,” Joe said. “I’m finding it confusing, I can’t comprehend where the end is.
“I’m finding it hard to be optimistic. That feeling of powerlessness, confusion, it’s a hard feeling to deal with. With the realisation that this isn’t just going to go away tomorrow, it’s really getting me down.”
He continued: “The one thing I love more than anything is being connected with community. My mum, my dad, my grandparents, my family and friends, I love being around people. This is disconnecting me from my work colleagues. I understand why but it doesn’t make it any easier.
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“I’m personally getting sensitive about other people. When I start thinking about all the people that are going to be affected. Knowing that small businesses are going to go under.
“I’m finding it very hard to be motivated to film workouts and do anything.”
Joe Wicks' PE classes kept the nation exercising while in lockdown Joe Wicks
Joe, who kept the nation moving in lockdown with his daily PE With Joe classes on YouTube, also underlined the importance of exercise for improving your mental state, urging people not to neglect their physical health.
“You have to fight against that want and need just to do nothing and just be sad and unhappy,” he said. “Because you can change the way you feel through exercise, so really, really turn to fitness right now more than ever.”
After being inundated with supportive messages from friends, family, celebrity names, and other followers, Joe said he was feeling much more positive.
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“It’s completely changed my state of mind today,” he wrote on his Instagram Story. “I’ve felt much more understood, connected, more optimistic and positive, so thank you.
“Tomorrow will be a better day.”
Joe previously raised nearly £600,000 for the NHS during the pandemic, with the ad revenue and merchandise from his online classes.
He called his classes his “proudest achievement” and has since returned on a handful of occasions to host some reunion workout sessions.
Useful websites and helplines
Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.
Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI - this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).
CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.
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The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Hundreds Of Deer Hunters Accused Of Ignoring New Covid Rules

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People taking part in stag and deer hunts have been ignoring social distancing and breaching the 30-person limit, an animal rights charity has claimed, based on eyewitness reports.
The League Against Cruel Sports estimates a total of 800 people have participated in hunts in Devon and Somerset since the decision to allow the activity to be exempt from “rule of six” restrictions.
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The charity said weekday hunts had consisted of about 130 people, while some 200 people took part in last Saturday’s deer hunt in Exmoor.
Pro-hunting and shooting groups can continue to hold gatherings of between six and 30 people because they are covered by a loophole that permits licensed “outdoor activity”.
But the charity says that as well as breaching the limit, masks are not being worn and social distancing is not being observed.
Organisers have rejected these “spurious and uncorroborated allegations” and insisted they have been operating “entirely responsibly” within Covid-19 guidelines.
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Paul Tillsley, the charity’s head of conservation who lives in the heart of deer hunting country in Exmoor, says he saw two groups of about 130 people each on deer hunts last week.
“There have been 800 plus people taking part in hunts just in this immediate three-mile radius since the new rules came in,” he told HuffPost UK.
“They were hunting right next to us so it was very easy to see that there was nothing like masks going on. I only saw one person that had a mask on, no one else had one. Every time they stopped, the people in the cars would get out and all mingle and have a chat in groups of around 10 or more.”
Although he has witnessed stag hunts in the local area for almost 30 years, he said he was “very surprised” with the lack of measures people had taken to protect themselves – especially as many members of the group looked older, “at least 70”.
“It’s totally ridiculous, it makes no sense whatsoever – particularly when you’ve got a lot of vulnerable people out there,” he said. “They may be outdoors but they’re mingling in close quarters so there’s still a high risk of spreading disease. The whole thing was just bizarre.”
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Tillsley: "I've seen stag hunts so, so many times that it should give me nightmares." Picture Post via Getty Images
In comparison, the people in the local town of Dulverton were reportedly adhering to coronavirus rules. “When you’re in town everybody is abiding by the law, but as soon as you get into the hunting arena, it’s like everybody forgets anything different is going on and nobody abides by the rules. They think it’s okay because the government has given them the green light to carry on so that’s what they’re doing.”
He said it “completely undermined” the advice that public health officials were giving to the public: “It does seem strangely biased towards one sector of society when everybody else is toeing the line.”
A spokesperson for the Devon and Somerset Staghounds said: “The DSSH is operating entirely responsibly within the government regulations and in line with the Covid protocols issued by its governing body.
“All DSSH members have been made aware of the regulations and what is expected of them. Sadly it is no surprise that employees of anti-hunting organisations continue to make spurious and uncorroborated allegations about the DSSH”.
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Shooting – including grouse, pheasant and pigeon shooting and “recreational deer stalking” – was one of several activities permitted when lockdown was eased this summer, with no restrictions on how far people could travel to do so.
Much of the Tory party has long been proud of its links to hunting and shooting, while the prime minister himself has written in the past that he “loved” foxhunting with dogs, once writing in the Spectator magazine of the “semi-sexual relation with the horse”.
A government spokesperson said: “We have exempted over thirty types of sport, exercise and physical activity such as football, rugby and other outdoor pursuits.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--A Minute Of Kindness: Man Creates Affordable Robotic Arms For Those Who Need It Most

A Minute Of Kindness: Man Creates Affordable Robotic Arms For Those Who Need It Most
Easton LaChappelle taught himself robotics as a teen and now his company, Unlimited Tomorrow, has created personalised prosthetics for people. TrueLimb is way more affordable than traditional products and is easy to upgrade as a person grows throughout their lives.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Trump Horrifies Everyone By Refusing To Say He’ll Leave The White House Peacefully

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Social media was flooded with concerns on Wednesday after President Donald Trump’s disturbing refusal to commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses the November election.
Trump was asked at a White House press conference if he would commit to a peaceful transferal of power if he lost. Trump said, “Well, we’re going to have to see what happens.”
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Continuing his attack on voting by post – as millions of people prepare to do so amid the coronavirus pandemic – Trump also alluded that he would accept the results only if the option of mail-in ballots is removed.
“Get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a peaceful ... there won’t be a transfer, frankly, there’ll be a continuation,” he said.
For months, Trump has laid the groundwork to declare the election results illegitimate unless he wins. In July, he told Fox News anchor Chris Wallace that he’ll “have to see” if he’ll accept the results of the election.
His brazen comments set Twitter afire as critics, including senators Mitt Romney, Brian Schatz, Chuck Schumer and Tammy Duckworth, voiced deep concerns about his disregard for democracy.
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Fundamental to democracy is the peaceful transition of power; without that, there is Belarus. Any suggestion that a president might not respect this Constitutional guarantee is both unthinkable and unacceptable. — Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) September 24, 2020
President Trump: You are not a dictator, and America will not permit you to be one. https://t.co/42krs0X50l — Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) September 23, 2020
People who are very chill about the President not committing to the peaceful transfer of power unless they “get rid of the ballots” are too chill for me. This seems an awfully serious thing to be dismissive about. At the very least it’s a good reason to oppose him vigorously. — Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) September 23, 2020
This is possibly the most frightening 54 seconds of the Trump presidency. https://t.co/BBC7Zn4BXh — Jim Roberts (@nycjim) September 23, 2020
“Get rid of the ballots and there won’t be a transfer of power, there will be a continuation...”
Yes, one system is authoritarianism. Another is democracy where people cast ballots & ballots are counted. Thankfully, many are protecting the latter & ready for any scenario. #VOTE https://t.co/rMm6z4FB6m — Vanita Gupta (@vanitaguptaCR) September 23, 2020
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Peaceful transfer of power is a hallmark of our democracy.
This thinly veiled threat from the sitting President should send shivers down the spine of every freedom-loving American. https://t.co/mmBnnorqU7 — Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) September 24, 2020
We impeached this president to hold him accountable, to make clear no one is above the law, and to save our democracy. Senate Republicans put party over country and let him off the hook.
This is the result. But it won't be our future. We will have a peaceful transition of power. https://t.co/V7qfvxDfIc — Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) September 24, 2020
The peaceful transfer of power is essential to a functioning democracy.
This statement from the president of the United States should trouble all of us. https://t.co/pLYh9e8X3W — ACLU (@ACLU) September 24, 2020
Pure fascist. And not a single republican in Congress gives a crap about it. https://t.co/UoAxl6OKZL — Bill Pascrell, Jr. (@BillPascrell) September 23, 2020
Never before has there been an exchange with a US President like this. God willing, never again.
“Will you commit to a peaceful transfer of power after the election?”
President Trump: "We're gonna have to see what happens."pic.twitter.com/UTPXigckVt — ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) September 23, 2020
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THREAD. It is important to take note and be prepared for the unprecedented actions Trump says he intends to take after the election. But it is also important not to allow his *wishful* reality to *become the reality. To do that, consider Trump's psychological POV right now: https://t.co/faXkQw2BMn — Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) September 24, 2020
2. Every time Trump spouts this kind of garbage, he is revealing that he is TERRIFIED. Ab. So. Lute. Ly. Terrified. His **existential** fear is losing. And he knows that there is a very good chance he is going to lose. And he can't do a damn thing about it. He will be a LOSER. — Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) September 24, 2020
3. Remember that in pretty much every instance Trump has faced like this in the past, he's had an exit strategy. He walks away. But he can't get out of the election. He's like a mail-order bride who has to go through with it. Except in his case, if he loses, he may end up in jail — Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) September 24, 2020


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Rachel In Friends Was Nearly Played By A Supporting Cast Member Instead Of Jennifer Aniston

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It’s almost impossible to imagine Friends without any of the core six actors, but it turns out the cast could have looked very different.
That’s because Rachel Green was nearly played by one of the supporting actors.
Jane Sibbett, who played Ross Geller’s ex-wife Carol Willick-Bunch, has revealed she was originally lined up to play Jennifer Aniston’s role.
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Jennifer Aniston played Rachel in Friends NBC
“I actually was up for another character,” Jane revealed in an interview with News.com.au. “They wanted me to be one of the main six.
“It was actually Rachel but I usually don’t tell people that because Jen... There’s no one who could’ve done it like Jen.”
However, because Jane was pregnant at the time the show was being cast, things did not end up working out.
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She continued: “I asked them [her agents] if they’d told the producers I was pregnant [at the time] and they said, ‘Oh no, we thought we’d tell them later.’ And I said, ‘No you’ve got to tell them now.’
“So obviously [the producers] said it wouldn’t work out.”
Jane Sibbett as Carol Willick-Bunch with David Schwimmer as Ross Geller NBC
Jane added that she had “no regrets” about how things wound up, saying: “There’s no way anybody could have come close to what Jennifer Aniston did with Rachel. She was so perfect.”
But Jane is not the only other Friends cast member who tried out for the role of Rachel.
It’s long been known among fans of the US sitcom that Courteney Cox was originally asked to audition for the part, but she pleaded with producers to consider her for Monica Geller instead, as she was more drawn to the character.
Courteney Cox was originally in line for the role of Rachel NBC via Getty Images
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Jane was also not the first actor to play Carol – the character was portrayed by Anita Barone in the pilot episode, with her taking over the role thereafter.
The character and her partner Susan featured in one of the first mainstream portrayals of gay marriage on US TV in 1996, when they tied the knot in The One With The Lesbian Wedding.
Jennifer and Courteney were due to reunite with their co-stars Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry earlier this year to film a TV special celebrating 25 years of Friends.
However, the retrospective has now been pushed back for a second time due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--2020 Is Hell. Now The Gin Industry Is Under Threat From Invasive Plant Disease

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An invasive plant disease is posing a threat to the UK’s gin industry, according to new research.
The Phytophthora austrocedri pathogen has been found to be spreading through juniper trees in Scotland, which produces 70% of the spirit across the four nations.
Experts at the Plant Health Centre, including Professor Fiona Burnett from Scotland’s Rural College, warn other spirits such as whisky could also be hit by disease.
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The pathogen has entered Britain through the plant trade and may have got into juniper woodlands through well-intentioned planting schemes. It lives in the soil and spreads in both soil and water, infecting juniper roots and killing large numbers of trees, especially on wet sites.
1/7 What steps will protect your business, garden or local environment from plant pests and diseases? This week we launch our Key Principles, with a video introduction https://t.co/RnYCF2nMvu This thread outlines each Principle, but go to https://t.co/wn8gsiRwTa to find out more! pic.twitter.com/ZeUXUc72ah — Scotland's Plant Health Centre (@PlantHealthScot) September 19, 2020
Although gin – an industry worth £3.2 billion to the UK economy – can be produced from spirits derived from a wider choice of grains or even potatoes, it relies on juniper berries for its traditional and distinctive flavour.
In a blog for Plant Health Week, Prof Burnett, along with Sarah Green from Forest Research and Professor Sarah Gurr from the University of Exeter, also highlights the threats faced by the Scotch whisky industry from diseases such as Ramularia, which can slash barley yields.
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Researchers in Scotland have found some junipers are resistant to the disease and it is hoped natural regeneration will allow juniper populations to recover over time.
Science is also helping to identify sites that are less vulnerable to the pathogen and which can be targeted for conservation and protection.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Students May Be Told To Stay On Campus For Christmas, Confirms Matt Hancock

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Students could be told to stay at their universities and not return home for Christmas to avoid them infecting their parents and grandparents, Matt Hancock has confirmed.
The health secretary said on Thursday morning he had “learned not to rule things out” when asked if such a measure could be introduced.
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“One of the challenges we have is making sure people are as safe as possible, and that includes not spreading [coronavirus] between the generations,” he told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme.
“I don’t want to have a situation like that and I very much hope we can avoid it.”
It comes after 124 students at Glasgow University tested positive, with 600 people now self-isolating.
Greg Fell, Director of Public Health for Sheffield, told Times Radio this morning students should stay on campus.
“If students become poorly and then go back home then that seeds infection in other parts of the country which adds further pressure to R-0 nationally,” he said.
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“Clearly there are going to be times when students do legitimately need to go home for all sorts of reasons. But the recommendation is to stay in place, basically.”
It comes as the number of new cases rose by more than 6,000, new restrictions came into force in England on Thursday, and the much-delayed coronavirus contact tracing app was finally launched.
NHS Test and Trace, which is responsible for the service, said the app was used to send alerts to users during a trial period on the Isle of Wight and in the London borough of Newham, after people had tested positive.
The latest version was piloted among residents of both areas as well as NHS volunteers from mid-August, after the first app was marred by technical issues and eventually scrapped.
As the software is voluntary, its success will also depend heavily on how many people choose to download and use it.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Donald Trump Says He's 'Not A Fan' Of Meghan Markle, Wishes Prince Harry 'Luck'

“We’re six weeks out from the election and today is Voter Registration Day,” Meghan said. “Every four years, we are told the same thing ― that ‘This is the most important election of our lifetime.’ But this one is. When we vote, our values are put into action and our voices are heard.”
“Your voice is a reminder that you matter,” Meghan added. “Because you do ― and you deserve to be heard.” Harry also made comments about voting and encouraged people to reject “online negativity.” “This election I am not going to be able to vote in the U.S. But many of you may not know that I haven’t been able to vote in the UK my entire life,” the duke said. “As we approach this November, it’s vital that we reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity.” The reporter who asked Trump about the royals on Wednesday interpreted Meghan’s remarks as “encouraging people to vote for Biden.”
However, the duchess did not name a political party or candidate in the video. A Sussex spokesperson told the BBC that the comments were a ‘call for decency.’”
When a Times reporter reached out to Buckingham Palace for a request for comment following the couples’ remarks on Tuesday, the palace declined to comment specifically but said, “The Duke is not a working member of the Royal Family and any comments he makes are made in a personal capacity.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Trump Turns Question About Breonna Taylor Decision Into Self-Praise Session

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Considering Donald Trump is not known for being a reader, it’s probably not a surprise that he can be bad at reading a room.
That’s what happened Wednesday when a reporter asked him for his reaction to the decision by a grand jury in Louisville, Kentucky, to not charge the police officers who fatally shot Breonna Taylor in her death.
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There are many things a president could have said, such as a statement calling for peace while the process continues or an expression of sympathy to Taylor’s family.
But Trump used the question as an opportunity to praise himself:
“My message is that I love the Black community, and I’ve done more for the Black community than any other president, and I say, with a possible exception of Abraham Lincoln, and I mean that, with opportunity zones and with criminal justice reform, with prison reform, with what we’ve done for historically Black universities, colleges, schools, what we’ve done, nobody’s done more. Abraham Lincoln, let’s give him the nod, but beyond that nobody’s done more.”
Then he indicated he hadn’t yet seen the grand jury’s decision. “I heard a decision was just made,” he said, and added he’d comment on it later.
The quote wasn’t even unique to the situation. It’s something he frequently says to avoid answering questions about racial justice in America.
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You can hear Trump attempt to soothe his fragile ego starting just after the 22-minute mark.
Trump did give a less self-serving of an answer to another reporter a little later.
Instead of praising himself, he praised Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron as “a star” for the way he handled the decision and said he’d be speaking with the Kentucky governor shortly.
That segment appears near the 25-minute of the video below.
Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black emergency medical technician in Louisville, was killed March 13 when three white plainclothes police officers serving a “no-knock” warrant broke into her apartment and met with gunfire from Taylor’s boyfriend, who was injured. The subject of the warrant was not at the address. Taylor, who had been in bed when officers entered her home, was shot multiple times.
Taylor’s family settled a $12 million wrongful death suit against the city on Sept. 15 that included a promise of police reforms.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Two Police Officers Shot During Protests Over Breonna Taylor Verdict

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A suspect is in custody after two police officers were shot in Kentucky as protests against the death of black woman Breonna Taylor reignite across the US.
Interim Louisville Police chief Robert Schroeder said one of the victims was stable and undergoing surgery, while the other was alert and stable. Both were expected to recover, he added.
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It comes hours after a Kentucky grand jury indicted a single police officer for shooting into neighbouring apartments, but did not move forward with charges against any officers for their role in Taylor’s death.
A grand jury announced that Brett Hankison was charged with three counts of wanton endangerment in connection to the police raid on the night of March 13.
It sparked demonstrations in downtown Louisville, where an Associated Press reporter saw National Guard members and armoured military vehicles while police in riot gear fired flash bangs and formed a line at Jefferson Square, which has been at the centre of protests.
Police in Kentucky last night. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
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Protests quickly erupted elsewhere as well: Demonstrators marched through the streets of New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia and the nation’s capital.
“It’s a volcano built up and now it’s exploded,” said Dekevion Gause, who sat beside a Louisville park memorial to Taylor made of flowers, paintings and tiny grave markers representing Black people killed by police.
Taylor, an emergency medical worker, was shot multiple times by officers who entered her home using a no-knock warrant during a narcotics investigation.
The warrant used to search her home was connected to a suspect who did not live there, and no drugs were found inside.
The use of no-knock warrants has since been banned by Louisville’s Metro Council.
Cameron’s office had been receiving materials from the Louisville Police Department’s public integrity unit while they tried to determine whether state charges would be brought against the three officers involved, he said.
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Before charges were brought, Hankison was fired from the city’s police department on June 23.
A termination letter sent to him by interim Louisville Police Chief Robert Schroeder said the white officer had violated procedures by showing “extreme indifference to the value of human life” when he “wantonly and blindly” shot 10 rounds of gunfire into Taylor’s apartment in March.
SIPA USA/PA Images
Hankison, Sergeant Johnathan Mattingly, Officer Myles Cosgrove and the detective who sought the warrant, Joshua Jaynes, were placed on administrative reassignment after the shooting.
Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, opened fire when police burst in, hitting Mattingly. Walker was charged with attempted murder of a police officer, but prosecutors later dropped the charge.
Walker told police he heard knocking but did not know who was coming into the home and fired in self-defence.
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On September 15, the city settled a lawsuit against the three officers brought by Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, agreeing to pay her 12 million US dollars and enact police reforms.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Gwyneth Paltrow Reveals Why Co-Parenting With Chris Martin Is 'Not As Good As It Looks'

Gwyneth said that in order to move on from the pain of her marriage ending, she had to confront the idea that “just because we break up we can’t love the things about the person anymore.”
“You are also holding the other person in this sphere of humanity,” the Oscar winner continued, noting that both she and Chris committed to radical accountability and responsibility-sharing in their relationship.
But their guiding principle as parents was prioritising the needs of their children.
“I really wanted my kids to not be traumatised, if it were possible. Chris and I committed to putting them first and that’s harder than it looks because some days you really don’t want to be with the person that you are getting divorced from,” she explained. “But if you’re committed to having family dinner, then you do it.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Donald Trump Refuses To Commit To A Peaceful Transfer Of Power If He Loses Election

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President Donald Trump declined to say if he would accept the election results in November.
Asked at a press conference Wednesday if he would “commit to a peaceful transferal of power” if he lost the election, Trump said: “Well, we’re gonna have to see what happens.”
The president then tried, again, to delegitimise mail-in voting, saying: “You know that I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots. The ballots are a disaster … Get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a peaceful ... there won’t be a transfer, frankly, there’ll be a continuation.”
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As millions of Americans are set to vote by mail amid the coronavirus pandemic, Trump has repeatedly spread disinformation suggesting that mail-in voting is “fraudulent” — it is not.
JUST IN: Asked if he'd "commit to making sure that there is a peaceful transferral of power after the election," Pres. Trump says, "Well, we're going to have to see what happens." https://t.co/JsAo4rBy2e pic.twitter.com/8haEyDVsdx — ABC News (@ABC) September 23, 2020
In July, Trump similarly said in an interview that he’ll “have to see” when asked if he’d accept the election results.
The president has been laying the groundwork to declare the election illegitimate, including by undermining the US Postal Service — the agency tasked with processing mailed ballots — and by claiming that the only way Democrats can win “is to cheat” — which is false.
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Trump has also suggested he is pushing through a Supreme Court nominee before the election to position the court to vote in his favour if it is tasked with deciding the election results.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--16 Easy One-Pan Recipes For The Days You're Running On Empty

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If you’re trying to juggle working from home, teaching from home or just being at home for what feels like 100 years during the pandemic, you may be suffering from cooking burnout. It’s likely you can’t muster the time, resources or energy to make a meal from scratch when it’s so much easier to just rip open a bag of Doritos and collapse on the couch.
But it’d be a shame to miss out on all the home-cooked food that autumn has to offer, because now’s the perfect time to turn on the oven and fill your house with all kinds of aromas: roasting chicken, sizzling potatoes, bubbling cheese.
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If you don’t think you have the energy for that, you need the 16 sheet pan recipes we’ve gathered below. The idea behind sheet pan meals is that you chop up your ingredients, toss them onto the sheet pan and pop them in the oven. When it comes out, dinner is ready and you only have to wash that one sheet pan.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Finally, The 3 Reasons Why THAT Character Wasn't In Game Of Thrones

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When it comes to HBO’s Game of Thrones and author George R.R. Martin’s novels, there’s always been one Stark contrast.
For years, fans of the show wondered whether Lady Stoneheart, a zombified version of Catelyn Stark and a major character in the books, would ever make an appearance. Anything and everything seemed to be a tease that somehow the character would show up. But alas, winter came. Stoneheart did not.
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Ahead of the final season for Game of Thrones, visual effects supervisor Joe Bauer told HuffPost that Stoneheart “never showed up in a script.” Now, we know why.
In James Hibberd’s new Entertainment Weekly article sharing some tidbits from his upcoming book, Fire Cannot Kill A Dragon, he reveals that showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss gave him three reasons why Stoneheart was cut from the televised tale.
1. Benioff explained they didn’t want to include the character because of “things coming up in George’s books that we don’t want to spoil.”
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Ah ... “things.” Of course!
What are these so-called “things”? Hibberd speculates that they have to do with Jaime and Brienne, but makes it clear that’s just a guess.
In Martin’s books, you’re led to believe that Brienne may be leading Jaime Lannister to his death at the hands of Stoneheart, who is taking revenge for the Red Wedding. So if this is the case, perhaps the showrunners didn’t want to lose Jaime too soon. Then again, he ultimately dies in the show crushed by a bunch of stones (that he arguably could’ve avoided). So ... maybe the scary zombie lady’s alleged plans don’t sound so bad after all?
2. The showrunners knew they had Jon Snow’s resurrection coming up and they didn’t want to lessen the impact of that.
Early on in Game of Thrones, we hear that all men must die. And it means something. In later seasons, characters are getting stabbed and still running around a city, zombie dragons are flying through the sky and everyone seems to come out of near-death experiences just fine.
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Perhaps the showrunners had a point here.
3. They didn’t want to weaken the impact of the Red Wedding, the powerful Season 3 scene where Catelyn Stark was betrayed and killed.
A disappointed sigh from Catelyn is coming. HBO
The Red Wedding, where the Stark forces (along with Catelyn and son Robb) are betrayed and massacred, may be the most shocking scene in all of Game of Thrones. It’s a moment the showrunners had wanted to portray on screen since the show began, and it was brilliantly brought to life by director David Nutter, inspiring a wave of reactions that rippled for years through pop culture.
As with Jon Snow’s resurrection, it makes sense the showrunners wouldn’t want to lessen it or actor Michelle Fairley’s performance as Catelyn. Bringing back the brutally murdered Stark could have possibly done that.
Apparently, the only reason the showrunners would have considered including the character was for Stoneheart’s shocking first appearance in Martin’s novels, which Weiss called one of the best “holy shit” moments in the books. Still, Stoneheart’s purpose is revenge for the Red Wedding, which Arya does achieve in later seasons of the show.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Gigi Hadid And Zayn Malik Introduce Baby Daughter To The World With The Cutest Photos

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Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik have welcomed a “healthy and beautiful” daughter.
The former One Direction singer shared a black-and-white picture of the baby’s tiny hand clutching his tattooed finger with fans on Wednesday night.
He wrote alongside the sweet snap: “To try put into words how I am feeling right now would be an impossible task.
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“The love I feel for this tiny human is beyond my understanding. Grateful to know her, proud to call her mine, & thankful for the life we will have together x.”
Our baby girl is here, healthy & beautiful🙏🏽❤to try put into words how i am feeling right now would be an impossible task. The love i feel for this tiny human is beyond my understanding.Grateful to know her, proud to call her mine, & thankful for the life we will have together x pic.twitter.com/nvhfOkk2fw — zayn (@zaynmalik) September 24, 2020
In a separate post to her more than 58 million Instagram followers, Gigi said she is “so in love” following the birth of her first child, revealing the baby arrived at the weekend.
Alongside a picture of the newborn holding Zayn’s thumb, she wrote: “Our girl joined us earth-side this weekend and she’s already changed our world. So in love.”
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The 25-year-old model confirmed she was expecting in April, telling chat show host Jimmy Fallon she and Zayn were “happy and grateful for everyone’s well wishes and support”.
The new arrival came hours after Zayn teased his first new music since 2018 album Icarus Falls. He tweeted a short section of the track Better, revealing it will arrive on Friday.
Zayn, 27, is the third member of One Direction to become a father.
Louis Tomlinson welcomed son Freddie in January 2016 while Liam Payne has a three-year-old son, Bear, with singer Cheryl.
Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid Stephane Cardinale - Corbis via Getty Images
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Los Angeles-born Gigi and Bradford-born Zayn have been dating on and off since late 2015.
Last week, Gigi’s father Mohamed shared a message on social media for the unborn baby.
“Hello little grandchild, it is me, my heart as happy as can be,” he wrote.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Before You Call My Son A Jerk, There's Something You Should Know About Him

Courtesy of Kristin Asche CA at preschool in September 2019
My five-year-old son was kicked out of two day cares for his behaviour ― for biting; for rocking so hard he damaged furniture; and for pinching, pushing and hitting. We have had to leave public places due to embarrassing tantrums. I get nervous every time another child stands too close to him ― there is a 50/50 chance the interaction will go well or the other child will be crying within seconds.
But all children start out as innocent, tiny babies. Our story is no different.
My son, CA, was born under inauspicious circumstances. He was nine weeks premature and weighed just 3lb, 6oz. His lungs were underdeveloped. He had been exposed to MRSA, hepatitis and, likely, methamphetamines in utero. His birth mother was a drug user with a strong distaste for basic obstetrics care and general nutrition.
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Prior to his birth, CA’s birth mom arranged for my husband and me to adopt him. The moment we heard of his birth, we stepped into the role of CA’s parents. He was our son, and we fully intended to celebrate his birth and life despite his adverse beginning.
Our sweet boy spent eight gruelling weeks in a neonatal intensive care unit four hours from our home. The rhythm of his heartbeat was marked with a loud beep; an alarm sounded each time that rhythm went awry. A different alarm announced that he had stopped breathing. CA was fed with one tube and breathed with help from another. The chaos in his hospital room made holding him difficult but, thankfully, not impossible. When CA could breathe and eat on his own, he was released from the hospital with assurances that he would live a long and healthy life. The worst, we thought, was behind us. We were wrong.
CA’s bright blue eyes, blond hair and perfect chin dimple give him the appearance of an angel, but he was temperamental from the beginning. He cried easily and often; feeding was a struggle; he disliked being held. Yet even his darkest moods as a baby did not prepare us for the destruction he wrought as a toddler.
By age two, we could not get through a meal without CA throwing everything he could reach. He damaged his toys. He kicked, scratched and bit other children. He liked to be alone and preferred not to play with or near others. He had epic tantrums and odd behaviours, including rocking his torso and head so violently that we worried about head injury. We had to bolt his bed to the wall and remove all toys and games from his bedroom. We could not leave him alone for even a second for fear he would hurt himself, his sister or our pets.
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Courtesy of Kristin Asche CA in the neonatal intensive care unit on Sept. 14, 2015, the day he was born.
I like to think my husband and I are relatively intelligent people. We each obtained advanced degrees and enjoy our rigorous professional careers. Imagine how frustrated we were with our inability to effectively communicate with our own toddler. Despite our best efforts, we could not determine what triggered our son’s destructive behavior or what we could do to stop it.
After an eardrum-shattering tantrum at the farmers market, we stopped taking our son in public. We saw the stares and heard the comments muttered under the breaths of bystanders who were certain that: (a) we were horrible parents who refused to discipline our child; and/or (b) CA was a poorly supervised, unloved hooligan. For many months, we skipped social engagements, stopped eating out and stayed home from community events just to avoid the judgment we felt. We still felt the anxiety, frustration and fear that came with having a child we could not explain or control. We just did it without an audience.
Because my husband and I had to work, however, day care could not be avoided. CA initially did well at an in-home day care, but his escalating behaviours became too much for the provider. A move to a day care centre proved catastrophic due to the staff’s unwillingness or inability to understand our son’s demanding personality. We gave up on day care altogether the day he bit seven children over a 90-minute period. We shifted our work schedules to care for CA at home, but we faced the same day-to-day struggles his day care providers had. We applied various disciplinary styles: some with tiny successes and more with disastrous ends. Soon our son began to display opposition and defiance in addition to physical aggression.
Although we still feared public scrutiny, we knew we could not forever insulate our son from the world (or the world from him). One Sunday when he was 3½, we attended services at our church. We sat in the back to ease a quick exit, but CA was on his best behaviour and appeared to enjoy the goings-on. That is until, late in the service, I walked toward the altar to take communion with my son in my arms. As we neared the dais where the praise band played, CA began to squirm and whine, which then turned to inconsolable crying accompanied by kicking, rearing and head-banging. All front-and-centre, to the dismay of several hundred onlookers. We left quickly, but the tantrum continued for 45 minutes more as we strapped him into his car seat and retreated to our home. When the storm passed, CA provided a shocking explanation for his outburst: The loud music “hurt his body.”
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We are active and engaged parents who strive for respect and kindness. In fact, we prided ourselves on our consistency with CA’s older sister, back when she was an only child. We workshop parenting issues among our friends, read the mommy blogs and parenting books, and consult with professionals as needed. Nothing we’d heard, read or discussed up to this point had prepared us to decode what it means when a child feels physical pain in the presence of loud music.
Through extensive research and consultation with CA’s paediatrician, early childhood staff from our school district and a family counsellor, we learned that CA’s behaviour was likely the consequence of a sensory processing disorder (SPD).
Courtesy of Kristin Asche The author with CA in August 2019.
Sensory processing refers to the way the brain receives and responds to messages from the senses (sight, taste, smell, hearing and touch). SPD is a neurological disorder that exists when the brain either cannot receive those messages or cannot interpret the messages it receives. The disorder was first recognised in the 1960s by Dr. Jean Ayres, who described SPD as a “traffic jam of the brain.”
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After the Epic Church Tantrum of 2019, my husband and I easily recognised CA’s hypersensitivity to sound. We also suspected he was hypersensitive to touch. It was no mystery that standing too close or picking him up without warning was a risk to one’s life and limb. Still, in our minds, these sensitivities could not explain the number and severity of tantrums and aggression we faced on a daily basis. And thus came our introduction to the “hidden” senses: the vestibular and proprioceptive systems.
The vestibular systems help us balance and orient ourselves in space. Children with vestibular processing disorder cannot easily recognise whether their bodies are moving or still, and, if moving, how fast and in what direction. Some children cope by avoiding movement altogether; others seek movement in its most extreme forms. Vestibular function is also responsible for the “flight, freeze or fight” response we experience when stressed or frightened. Without a clear idea of which action to take, children with vestibular dysfunction often react to everyday frustrations in an overly anxious or highly emotional manner.
The proprioceptive processing system helps us know where our bodies begin and end. Children with proprioceptive processing disorder do not instinctively know how to move and with how much effort. As a result, they can be awkward and clumsy, and have no sense of their own strength. As a result, they are in constant motion, bump into things or seem out of control.
Little is known about the cause of SPD, but risk factors include premature birth, in utero drug exposure, certain developmental delays or neurological disorders, and being over- or under-stimulated during crucial periods of neurological development, which may occur during lengthy hospitalisation or institutionalisation in infancy or early childhood. In other words, our son’s inauspicious beginning put him at high risk for SPD.
Children with SPD benefit greatly from physical and occupational therapies, where they learn to manage their responses to sensations and practice coping mechanisms to address their sensitivities. Unfortunately, some mental health providers do not recognise SPD as a true disorder. Worse still, most health insurance carriers refuse to cover the therapies most beneficial to children with SPD. Others only cover therapies provided in conjunction with a separately diagnosed mental health or neurological disorder, such as autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
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CA has been diagnosed with global developmental delays resulting from his premature birth. As a result, our insurance carrier covers paediatric occupational and physical therapy (OT/PT), and he has received special education services from our school district since birth. These service providers have been instrumental in ensuring that CA has the SPD therapy and support services he needs. In fact, the same month we learned about SPD, CA’s special education case manager called to ask about our plans for preschool for the coming school year. My husband and I were aghast. We had assumed preschool was out of the question for our son. We had a better understanding of his behaviours and access to therapies to address them, but there was still a 50/50 chance any interaction between CA and another child would end in tears and/or physical harm.
Courtesy of Kristin Asche CA at occupational therapy in June 2019
After several conversations with the school and CA’s OT/PT providers, we signed him up for preschool and held our breath. Our anxiety increased when we learned CA’s teacher was just one year out of college. Believing this fresh-faced educator would be clueless about SPD, we scheduled a meeting intending to inform her of what we knew. Teacher Abby began the meeting by giving us a tour of her room, which included a “calm-down tent” for kids who need a moment to themselves, weighted lap blankets for those who require proprioceptive input and a daily schedule with photographs to assist anxious students in transitioning from one activity to the next. Clearly, our son was in the right place.
Surrounded by this great support system, CA thrived in preschool. He made friends, played appropriately and discovered a love for books. Weekly occupational and physical therapy at a hospital and school-based support services gave CA an opportunity to move with the speed and force he sought. A supportive preschool staff and a fantastic special education team cheered him on with every success and had the know-how to address his behaviours in a positive way. We still struggled at home sometimes, but we were slowly learning how to parent this special child in the best way we could.
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Then Covid-19 hit, and the tenuous peace we were beginning to enjoy came to an end.
Without school-based supports or physical and occupational therapy, CA did not receive the sensory input he needs. With two parents working from home and a sister doing distance learning, he did not receive the attention he deserved. His behaviour regressed ― his tantrums reappeared stronger than ever, he flatly refused to obey household rules, he responded to discipline with headbutts and scratching, and he screamed himself hoarse. Worse than the times when we chose to retreat from the public, the quarantine meant we had no way to escape the chaos. My husband and I grew exhausted and sad, our daughter frustrated and angry, and CA lost his bright smile.
Now six months later, we are nervously preparing CA for his return to school. He will have an experienced teacher, and his special education team is ready and willing to get him back on track. We have resumed weekly occupation and physical therapy to ensure he gets the sensory input he needs. We are setting him up for success, and we believe in this bright, funny and intelligent child.
Yet I still worry about those people who stand in judgment when CA cannot regulate his feelings or behaviour. I guess if we happen to be in public when we miss a behaviour trigger or CA simply cannot cope with an unavoidable one, I will simply inform the assembled audience that my son is not a little jerk. He has sensory processing disorder.
Kristin Asche is a lawyer who spends her free time advocating for children with disabilities, adoptive families and those who wish to adopt, and the public school system. This article first appeared on HuffPost Personal.
Have a compelling personal story you want to tell? Find out what we’re looking for here, and pitch us on ukpersonal@huffpost.com


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--The Most Common Signs Of Covid-19 Being Reported Right Now

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Headache, fatigue, loss of smell, fever and a persistent cough are the five most common symptoms of Covid-19 being reported to the UK’s Covid Symptom Study app right now.
Lead researcher Professor Tim Spector, from King’s College London, tells HuffPost UK these symptoms haven’t significantly changed since the start of the pandemic.
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The most common symptoms of Covid vary slightly in children and the over-70s, he adds. The top five symptoms in school aged children who test positive are: fatigue, headache, fever, sore throat and loss of appetite.
The app also found that one in six (15%) children who test positive present with an unusual skin rash.
Data on symptoms in the over-70s should be available in the next few days.
The NHS acknowledges three key symptoms of Covid-19 that warrant a test: fever, continuous cough, and loss, or change to, a person’s taste or sense of smell.
This is reinforced by a study of nearly 25,000 cases, which found a persistent cough and fever were the most common symptoms associated with Covid-19, followed by fatigue, losing the ability to smell and difficulty breathing.
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As cases rise in the UK, Prof Spector is urging people to sign up to report their daily symptoms in the app, which he says “has become an essential tool in the fight against Covid-19 in the UK”.
The app estimates that 119,235 people in the UK have symptomatic Covid. Millions of people are logging how they feel (even if they’re feeling well) every day. This, says Prof Spector, is helping the app’s team detect hotspots earlier than other sources.
While the UK’s chief medical and scientific officers suggested at the start of the week the UK is facing 6,000 new infections a day, the Covid symptom study suggests this is more like 12,700 per day.
“Our work with King’s College London has produced a wealth of invaluable research into how Covid-19 affects people, including confirming that loss of smell was a key symptom,” Prof Spector says. “The app’s algorithm is also able to predict whether or not someone might have Covid-19 based on their symptoms.”
Prof Spector is urging people in Northern Ireland to start logging symptoms, so they can gather more insights into the spread of the virus. “The more people we have, the more accurate our predictions are,” he says.
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He is also interested in getting more results of children’s symptoms on the app, so is encouraging parents to start logging for the whole family. You can do this by clicking onto the app and saying you are logging on behalf of someone else.