thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-18--EastEnders Filming Suspended 'Until Further Notice' Due To Coronavirus Pandemic

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Filming on EastEnders and other continuing dramas on the BBC has been suspended “until further notice” due to the coronavirus pandemic, the corporation has confirmed.
A BBC spokesperson said: “In light of the spread of Covid-19, after much consideration, it has been decided that filming on EastEnders will be postponed until further notice. The decision was made after the latest Government update.
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“We will continue to follow the latest news and advice from the World Health Organisation and Public Health England.
“We have also taken the decision to reduce the amount of episodes we broadcast each week to two, so that we can ensure the audience can continue to enjoy EastEnders in their homes for as long as possible.”
EastEnders' iconic Queen Vic pub PA Entertainment
Casualty, Holby City, Doctors, Pobol y Cwm and River City are also among the shows affected by the new measures.
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EastEnders, which films eight weeks in advance, will now air on Monday and Tuesday nights on BBC One.
News: “In light of the spread of Covid-19, filming on #EastEnders will be postponed until further notice... We have also taken the decision to reduce the amount of episodes we broadcast each week to two.”
Episodes will now air on Mondays, 8pm and Tuesdays, 7.30pm. pic.twitter.com/Ea9rodkqfh — BBC EastEnders (@bbceastenders) March 18, 2020
The coronavirus outbreak has already had a devastating impact on the entertainment industry both in the UK and worldwide.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-18--Is Ibuprofen Okay To Use For Coronavirus Symptoms?

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There’s a lot of advice floating around about the novel coronavirus and how to limit the spread of the pandemic. Some of it is good; some of it is terrible.
One question this week was whether ibuprofen or other anti-inflammatory drugs are safe to use for symptoms of Covid-19, including fever and body aches. One family said that their child’s condition worsened after taking ibuprofen for Covid-19. France’s health ministry suggested that using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (or NSAIDs) could aggravate the disease.
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Olivier Veran, the French health minister, tweeted over the weekend that if “you have a fever, take paracetamol. If you are already on anti-inflammatory drugs or in doubt, ask your doctor for advice.”
The French ministry added the warning to its coronavirus guidance after the government published a report that found “grave adverse effects” linked to the use of NSAIDs in patients affected by Covid-19, CNN reported.
But some experts said there isn’t enough evidence to support that claim. The virus is too new for extensive studies on it, including research that would suggest ibuprofen or related drugs may make symptoms worse.
“I am not aware of any studies that have specifically linked the use of ibuprofen with increased risk of complications with the Covid-19,” Eudene Harry, a board-certified physician in emergency medicine and medical director for the Oasis Wellness & Rejuvenation Center told HuffPost.
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Physicians have previously suggested that Covid-19 sufferers can take ibuprofen for their symptoms, as well as other at-home remedies like a hot shower, sleeping and drinking lots of water.
Still, some health professionals say they’re not disregarding the idea that ibuprofen might make a poor treatment for Covid-19. The illness, if it becomes severe, can lead to issues with organs like the kidneys, which can be stressed by NSAIDs. But that’s not enough to recommend ditching the drugs entirely.
BWFolsom via Getty Images
“There is a good reason to avoid ibuprofen as it may exacerbate acute kidney injury brought on by any severe illness, including severe Covid-19 disease,” Rupert Beale, a group leader in Cell Biology of Infection at the Francis Crick Institute, told the UK’s Science Media Centre. “There isn’t yet any widely accepted additional reason to avoid it for Covid-19.”
Doctors may recommend acetaminophen products over NSAIDs if a patient with Covid-19 also has other medical conditions, Harry said.
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“There can be concern for individuals with underlying renal or cardiovascular conditions, as these are already conditions in which caution is exercised when using NSAIDs such as ibuprofen,” Harry said, noting that this concern is speculative right now. “Other concerns would be pre-existing gastrointestinal issues. Since older individuals are more likely to have underlying chronic conditions such as these and they are the most susceptible to complications, that might be the basis for the concerns.”
Experts told CNN that acetaminophen may be preferable as a Covid-19 treatment, since it is also less likely to cause side effects like stomach or kidney irritation.
If you think you have Covid-19, the best course of action, as with any illness, is to chat with your doctor, Harry said. As long as you aren’t experiencing a high fever and intense shortness of breath that requires immediate medical attention, it’s best to call or contact them through an online appointment.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-18--German Big Brother Housemates Learn About Coronavirus In Emotional Live Episode

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The contestants on the German version of Big Brother have now been told about the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier this week, it was reported that the 14 housemates were among the only people in the country unaware of the Covid-19 outbreak, as producers had chosen to keep them entirely in the dark, in keeping with the show’s rule about not receiving any news from the outside world.
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However, after a backlash on social media, it was decided the housemates should be told in a special live episode, which aired on German TV on Tuesday night.
Watch their reactions in the video below:
At the beginning of the episode, the housemates had the pandemic explained to them, including the scale of the outbreak and its symptoms, by Dr Andreas Kaniewski and the show’s host Jochen Schropp.
They were also shown a video montage, which included speeches from German chancellor Angela Merkel.
The contestants were then invited to ask the pair – who were seated behind a glass screen – any questions they had about the situation.
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The contestants in the German Big Brother house Sat.1
As the conversation continued, many of the housemates became emotional as they learned more about the severity of the situation.
The group was also shown video messages from their friends and families in the outside world, one of whom light-heartedly assured the group they were “probably in the safest place in Germany right now”, while another jokingly requested some toilet paper from the Big Brother house.
The pair explained the situation from behind a glass screen Sat.1
Although the British version of Big Brother ended in 2018 after 19 series, the reality format still exists all over the world, with several series airing right now.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-18--How To Talk To Someone Who Isn’t Taking Coronavirus Seriously

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Jordan, a doctoral student, has spent the last week fretting about how the coronavirus might affect her elderly grandparents.
The same can’t be said for her parents. Even as the government slowly begins to ramp up its coronavirus response, Jordan said her parents, both in their 50s, are still too lax about the threat.
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“They are continuing to work, which I understand because my mom is a teacher ― schools are still open in the UK ― and my dad works outdoors, but they’re not really taking it seriously,” said Jordan, who asked that we use only her first name so she could speak openly.
Her parents are still visiting her grandparents and going out to eat at restaurants.
“My dad keeps saying ‘it’s just like the flu’ and that ‘a lot of people die every day,’” she said. “They don’t seem to understand how social distancing can help other people because they are not worried about getting it and they don’t seem to listen when I try to talk to them about it.”
Across the pond in the US, writer Micaela Walley is dealing with the same resistance from many of her relatives.
“I live in Maryland, where our local officials have been very proactive in taking steps to prevent the coronavirus from spreading,” Walley said. “But a large portion of my family lives in the south, where their local officials are known for being notoriously inactive across the board.”
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When Walley brings up the preventative steps being mandated in her state, her family tells her the threat of Covid-19 is “not as big of a deal as the media portrays it to be.”
“It’s extremely disheartening to see the people that I love react this way,” Walley told HuffPost. “And my family members are some of the very people that would be the most vulnerable to this virus if they contracted it.”
Millennials have been roundly criticised for not taking the threat of coronavirus seriously (and rightfully so; look at all the young people who partied on St. Patrick’s Day). But as Walley’s and Jordan’s stories illustrate, baby boomer parents and relatives are just as likely to lag on social isolation. That’s especially worrisome because Covid-19 is most dangerous for older adults or those with serious health conditions. (An older adult is broadly defined as anyone over the age of 60).
“I think some people are naturally immune to the panic even though they are not immune to Covid-19,” said Shane G. Owens, a psychologist and the assistant director of campus mental health at Farmingdale State College (SUNY).
“When you mix this with Americans’ deeply rooted sense of liberty, it can be a dangerous combination,” Owens said. “We do not like being told where not to go and what not to do.”
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In these challenging times, we have to look beyond ourselves. But how do you convince your relatives that this isn’t a political issue or even a family issue, it’s a major global health crisis?
Below, Owens and family therapists offer their advice for talking to family and close friends who don’t believe they’re affected by the pandemic.
10'000 Hours via Getty Images Whether it's your partner, spouse, roommate, neighbor, relative, parents or kids, avoid judgment when broaching this subject. Instead, experts say, to try empathy.
Don’t come at your relative with judgment, just concern and facts.
Express your opinion clearly and non-judgmentally. Owens suggested using “I” language. (For instance, “I am worried for your health and the health of others you might come into contact with” instead of “You really should be doing more to prevent this.”)
Come prepared with facts available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization, he said. Talk about how, even if they’re young or relatively healthy for their age, they can be a carrier for the virus and spread it without ever experiencing symptoms.
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Some relatives may heed your advice, but others will need hard facts, Owens said, drawing on his personal experience as an example.
“I had to call my parents last night and tell them I think they should stay home for a while,” he said. “While still young for parents of a guy my age, they are at greater risk. It went as predicted: My mum, who tends to be anxious about some things and the one who taught me the importance of following rules, said, ‘Well, okay, if you say so.’”
His dad reacted the opposite way.
“My dad, who’s less anxious than almost anyone I know and has a healthy distrust of rules and authority, pushed back some,” Owens said. “He trusts science, though, and doctors — especially me and my best friend, who’s an infectious disease doctor —and said he’d think about it.”
The most important thing, Owens said, is that the person is left to choose for themselves while understanding their responsibility and the consequences.
Approach the conversation in a loving way.
Most of the time, when something stirs us up or we disagree, we don’t think about how we’re delivering our message. When talking about coronavirus, approach it from a place of love, said Liz Higgins, a family therapist and founder of Millennial Life Counselling.
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“Think of ways to deliver your message that get to the heart of the point, which is that you care about their safety, their health, and want to do your part in at least communicating that to your loved one,” she said.
For tough conversations like this, don’t just spring it on them. Tell them you’d like to jump on the phone and talk about something important to you when they have a chance.
“Ask if you can talk to them about something without just confronting them and catching them off-guard,” Higgins said.
JGI/Tom Grill via Getty Images
Focus on something they care about.
Get your relatives’ buy-in to social distancing by focusing on something that they do consider important, said Nikole Benders-Hadi, a psychiatrist and medical director of behavioural health at Doctor on Demand.
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“No one wants to be told what to do, so instead of telling them how they ought to change their behaviour, focus instead on things they do actually prioritise,” she said. “They may have concerns about family members who may be immunocompromised, or the long-term financial consequences of this pandemic, or something else.”
Your workaholic cousin may want to get “one more project” wrapped up before taking the pandemic seriously and hunkering down at home, but she’ll likely understand that grandma’s health comes first.
Compare coronavirus to pandemics and health emergencies of the past.
Your relative might not be convinced that the threat of coronavirus is serious, but if they’ve lived through other pandemics and health crises, they’ve seen the consequences of inaction.
Maybe they experienced the polio epidemic in the 1940s and 1950s. Or maybe your grandpa was born just a few years after the 1918 influenza pandemic, which killed an estimated 675,000 Americans among a staggering 20 million to 50 million people globally.
Talk about these historic moments with younger relatives who want to go out, too. “Remind people that personal sacrifice is necessary for the greater good,” said Virginia Gilbert, a marriage and family therapist.
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“Older generations who lived through the Depression, the World Wars and other pandemics should be able to understand that there’s more to life than their personal happiness, as young people are learning now.”
“Social distancing is hard. We like to be around others, even though we spend a lot of time on social media.” - Shane G. Owens, a psychologist
Be realistic about what you can do.
It’s hard to find two people who can agree on the exact same amount of caution or seriousness with which to approach Covid-19. If your relative is still not taking the bait, it’s okay to establish boundaries (for instance, no grandkid visits for the time being) or to physically distance yourself, said Marie Land, a therapist.
“Once you’ve tried to make your point, it may be better to just try to see how you can both make this work,” Land said. “I know college students want to rent an Airbnb or stay with friends or other family because there are differences in how restrictive they want to be compared to their parents.”
Acknowledge that social distancing is hard even for you.
Everyone is feeling the brunt of coronavirus. Even those who are in denial or appear to have no emotions about it most likely do. One of the most important things you can do is to approach your relative with empathy: You’re just as bummed out about self-isolating as they are. Tell them that.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-18--US Guns and Ammo Sales Are Reportedly Surging Because Of Coronavirus

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Toilet paper and hand sanitiser aren’t the only items flying off store shelves as the coronavirus continues to spread across the US. Some gun and ammunition retailers say they’ve seen so much demand in recent weeks that they’re having trouble keeping their shops stocked, too.
HuffPost called dozens of gun shops around the country. The vast majority said they were too overwhelmed with customers to comment when we called.
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Michelle Bruneau, an employee at Carrara’s Gun Shop in Shrewsbury, Vermont, said she’s seen a significant boost in sales – mostly ammunition – over the last few weeks.
“We’re out in the woods,” Bruneau told HuffPost. “We don’t get a ton of traffic, especially this time of year. We had like six or seven customers yesterday, that’s huge for us.”
It’s been difficult to restock the store, Bruneau said, because suppliers are struggling to manufacture enough product to meet demand. She said “tons of people” have been calling ahead to see what’s available.
“I think a lot of people are seeing what’s going on in the [grocery] stores and want to make sure they’ve got what they need if they’re in a bind. Who knows what people are going to do,” she added, referring to concerns about possible looting or other lawlessness in response to the pandemic.
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People are also stocking up, as prices are expected to jump due to the higher demand, she said.
An employee at Oak Ridge Firearms in Oak Ridge, New Jersey, who asked not to be identified, said there’s been significantly more interest than normal from first-time buyers.
In New Jersey, which has some of the most restrictive firearm laws in the country, prospective first-time gun owners must apply for permits through the state police. It can take weeks for a permit to be issued, if at all.
“They call and have no idea what the process is,” the employee said. “They’re frustrated because they want something right now.”
David Liu, owner of a gun store, takes an order from a customer in Arcadia, California, on Sunday. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Like Carrara’s Gun Shop in Vermont, Oak Ridge Firearms has seen an increase in firearm purchases, particularly shotguns, but not as much as the demand for ammunition. The Oak Ridge employee estimated the shop has sold about three to four times the amount of ammo compared to this time last year.
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“I can’t say I’ve ever seen something like this because of disease happening before,” he told HuffPost. “Some people are concerned there could be lawlessness.”
Firearm sales often spike after mass shootings, especially since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, because some people fear the government will impose tighter gun restrictions in their aftermath.
But the boost in sales during the coronavirus pandemic is likely fuelled in large part by concerns of social unrest, said Adam Winkler, a professor of constitutional law at the UCLA School of Law and an expert on gun policy. He said he’s not surprised to see lines out the door at some gun stores, and he expects sales to continue to grow as long as stores remain open.
“When you depend on the government for social [stability] and all of a sudden it seems like the government isn’t going to be able to provide that, people get scared.” - Adam Winkler, gun policy expert and UCLA School of Law professor
“We have seen this before,” Winkler said. “We saw in Los Angeles when the riots occurred back in the early 1990s, a lot of people were purchasing guns. When people feel a crisis is coming and social order may be disrupted, being armed and self-defence is an age-old idea.”
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While mass shootings mostly drive existing gun owners to add to their stockpiles, first-time buyers are likely a “large slice of the pie” of the sales amid the coronavirus spread, Winkler said.
“People do sometimes choose to buy guns when they’re facing the possibility of social breakdown – and sometimes for good reason,” Winkler said, noting the looting and crime that occurred in New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
“It shows that there is this primal need for self-defence,” he added. “When you depend on the government for social [stability] and all of a sudden it seems like the government isn’t going to be able to provide that, people get scared.”
Though self-protection may be a motive for many gun buyers, studies show that living in a house with a gun increases the risk of death. Homicides and suicides are far more likely to occur when a gun is present in a household, according to a 2014 study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Having a gun in the house also increases the potential for a deadly accident. Firearms are the second leading cause of death among American children and adolescents, behind car crashes. At least 73 children under the age of 12 were accidentally killed by guns in 2018. Those gun deaths were often related to a child’s access to a firearm, and were either self-inflicted or at the hands of another child, according to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute.
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People stand in line outside the Martin B. Retting, Inc. guns store in Culver City, California, on Sunday. Mario Tama via Getty Images
The first confirmed case in the US of Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, was reported on January 21. As of Monday, the virus had infected nearly 3,500 people across 49 states, as well as Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands. At least 68 people in the US have died from Covid-19.
Reports about increased firearm and ammo sales in the last month are largely anecdotal. The FBI’s monthly report on firearm background checks initiated through the NICS system is often a strong indicator of whether gun sales have increased in a given period of time. At the time of publication, the FBI had not yet posted numbers for March.
Background checks are required when a person is seeking to purchase a gun from a federal firearms licensee, which includes major chains like Walmart, small independent shops, and some individual retailers.
In January, the NICS system processed 2,165,094 background checks, a nearly 25% increase from a year earlier, according to FBI data. Last month, there were 2,802,467 background checks, marking a more than 36% increase from the prior February.
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A spokeswoman for the FBI would not speculate on the possible causes for an increase in background checks.
“There are many factors that could cause fluctuations at any time,” she said.
A gun store customer who gave his name only as John waits in line in Burbank, California, on Sunday. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ammo.com, an online retailer of ammunition, said it’s seen a surge in sales that correlates with the spread of the coronavirus. Sales in Delaware have grown by more than 4,500% ― the most of any state, according to the website. Customers in Vermont, Maryland, Mississippi and Louisiana, where confirmed cases of the virus have steadily increased, have also placed substantially more orders than normal.
“On March 10, 2020 – the day confirmed cases in the US reached over 1,000, increasing ten-fold in a week – we noticed an unprecedented 276% sales surge that continued through the end of last week and the weekend,” Ammo.com said in a statement.
The site said it has seen increases in sales in every single state, with the exception of those to which they don’t ship: Alaska, California and Hawaii.
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Lines have wrapped around some firearms stores in California, with customers waiting hours at times to get inside, reported The Los Angeles Times.
Ray, a medical doctor who only provided his first name to the Times, was one of several first-time buyers waiting in line last week at Martin B. Retting Gun Shop in Culver City.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-18--Vanessa Hudgens Apologises Over 'Insensitive And Not At All Appropriate' Coronavirus Comments

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Former Disney star Vanessa Hudgens has issued an apology after facing a huge backlash over comments she made about coronavirus.
In a live Instagram video on Monday, the High School Musical actress was seen saying she thought it was “bullshit” that people could potentially be quarantined until July.
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She added: “I’m sorry but, like, it’s a virus. I get it, like, I respect it, but at the same time I’m like, even if everybody gets it, like, yeah, people are going to die, which is terrible, but, like, inevitable? I dunno, maybe I shouldn’t be doing this right now...”
When you tweet a video and end it with “maybe I shouldn’t be saying this” that’s normally a sign that you shouldn’t #VanessaHudgens #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/C9vWYmFTqa — 🥂The Barrowboy🥂 (@Barrowboy77) March 17, 2020
Vanessa quickly faced heavy criticism on social media following her comments, initially responding to the controversy by claiming that what she’d said had been “taken out of context”.
However, hours later, she responded with an apology, admitting she’d been “insensitive and not at all appropriate” with her words.
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Vanessa Hudgens Barcroft Media via Getty Images
“Hey guys. I’m so sorry for the way I have offended anyone and everyone who has seen the clip from my Instagram live yesterday,” Vanessa wrote.
“I realise my words were insensitive and not at all appropriate for the situation our country and the world are in right now. This has been a huge wake up call about the significance my words have, now more than ever.”
She added: “I’m sending safe wishes to everyone to stay safe and healthy during this crazy time.”
Ironically, hours before the Instagram live video that raised so many eyebrows, the actor had won praise over a Tik Tok video she created while social distancing at her home.
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Vanessa and former High School Musical co-star Ashley Tisdale appear in the side-by-side clip, which sees the former pouring herself some wine while the latter does a dance routine to the track We’re All In This Together.
vanessa hudgens and ashley tisdale just gave us high school musical 4: oh my god please stay home pic.twitter.com/dUBPDD8V9l — morgan sung (@morgan_sung) March 17, 2020
Vanessa isn’t the only celebrity to find herself in hot water over her unique take on the pandemic, though.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-18--Six Things You Need To Know About Coronavirus Today

Concerns over the coronavirus pandemic have led to major changes around the globe as the rate of infection grows.
The Department of Health and Social Care said on Wednesday that 104 people in the UK were known to have died after testing positive for the virus, including three in Scotland and two in Wales.
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Meanwhile the number of people to test positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 9am is 2,626, up 676 from 1,950 at the same time on Tuesday, according to the Gov.uk website. The figure includes a baby who tested positive for Covid-19 at the James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston in Norfolk.
Confirmed cases of the new coronavirus have topped 200,000 worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Here are the latest developments.
Closure of schools over coronavirus
Exams will not take place as planned in May and June after the announcement that schools in England will close until further notice for most pupils.
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The announcement came on the same day that the Welsh and Scottish governments revealed that schools in the two nations would close early for the Easter break, with doors set to close by Friday at the latest.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson told MPs: “I want to provide parents, students and staff with the certainty they need.
“After schools shut their gates on Friday afternoon they will remain closed until further notice.
“This will be for all children except to those of key workers and where children who are most vulnerable.”
Despite calls by the government for Brits to socially-distance themselves from one another, schools have so far been advised to remain open.
Brits in Spain told to return
(AP Photo/Joan Mateu) ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Britons in Spain have been urged by the Foreign Office to return before March 24, when all Spanish hotels will close.
In a statement, it said: “The Spanish government have confirmed that all hotels will close in Spain from Tuesday 24 March.
“We therefore advise British travellers in Spain to contact their tour operator or airline as soon as possible, to arrange their return journey home before this date.”
Another MP diagnosed with coronavirus
Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown, Lloyd Russell-Moyle, said on Twitter: “After a six-day wait for results I have just been informed I have tested positive to Covid-19.
“I was tested on the last day the NHS was still conducting community testing.
“If we are to beat this then we need to take the @WHO advice and “Test, Test, Test”.”
A total of six MPs have tested positive.
Tributes paid to UK’s youngest victim
Craig Ruston Me and my MND
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Father-of-two Craig Ruston, from Kettering, died on Monday, six days after he became ill with a chest infection that was confirmed as Covid-19.
The 45–year-old had been fighting motor neurone disease (MND).
His wife, Sally, said he was “a wonderfully kind and caring person...he welcomed everyone”.
Craig had been writing a popular blog about living with MND following his diagnosis in in 2018.
71 people in the UK have known to have died in the outbreak. Ming Yeung via Getty Images
Filming and events suspended
In a statement about EastEnders, the corporation said: “In light of the spread of Covid-19, after much consideration, it has been decided that filming on EastEnders will be postponed until further notice. The decision was made after the latest government update.
“We will continue to follow the latest news and advice from the World Health Organisation and Public Health England. We have also taken the decision to reduce the amount of episodes we broadcast each week to two, so that we can ensure the audience can continue to enjoy EastEnders in their homes for as long as possible.”
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Glastonbury 2020 has been cancelled and will be an “enforced fallow year”, the festival organisers have announced.
We are so sorry to announce this, but we are going to have to cancel Glastonbury 2020. Tickets for this year will roll over to next year. Full statement below and on our website. Michael & Emily pic.twitter.com/ox8kcQ0HoB — Glastonbury Festival (@glastonbury) March 18, 2020
Criminal trials to be delayed
Criminal trials longer than three days that were due to start before the end of April will be postponed.
In a statement issued late on Tuesday, it was announced that the Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett – the most senior judge in England and Wales – has decided no new trial should start in any crown court unless it is expected to last no more than three days.
The statement said the impact of the public health emergency on the operation of the courts has been under “constant review”, and that criminal trials pose “particular problems in a fast-moving situation” because of the involvement of many participants including the judge, jurors, defendants, lawyers, witnesses and court staff.
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Supermarkets introduce limits on purchases
Newport, Wales UK - September 29, 2011: Sainsbury's shop sign at the Crindau store, Newport Gwent. susandaniels via Getty Images
Sainsbury’s customers will only be able to buy a maximum of three of any grocery product and a maximum of two on the most popular items such as toilet roll, soap and UHT milk.
Tesco, the UK’s biggest supermarket, will impose restrictions on all customers to buying a maximum of three products per line from Thursday, as it copes with the high demand from the coronavirus pandemic, the company has announced.
Boots and Lloyds Pharmacy also limited the sale of hand sanitiser.
Why do people panic buy? We asked a psychotherapist to explain.
Doctors fear they’ll die over lack of kit and testing
Frontline hospital staff fear that doctors and nurses will die because of NHS guidance that they do not need to wear full protective equipment when caring for virus patients.
Senior doctors said they believed the advice was because of equipment shortages rather than best practice.
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They have commented that hygiene levels on wards were falling below standards because people were stealing hand gel from the end of patients’ beds.
Earlier, we asked frontline health workers what worries them about the crisis. Here’s what they said.
Wealthy people are paying for private testing
After failing to access testing through the NHS, more than 2,000 people have ordered a £375 home testing kit from a Harley Street clinic in London, the Daily Telegraph has reported.
Additionally, some 60 firms including oil and telecoms companies, have purchased them for their staff.
There is an ongoing concern that the coronavirus outbreak is dividing the rich and poor.
Liam Evans, campaigns officer at charity Turn2us, told us: “If you are living paycheque to paycheque, you will not have the ability to buy food in bulk, or if you do not have a freezer, you will be unable to store food for a long time.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-18--Here's Video Of Trump Trying To Explain Why He Cut The Pandemic Response Team

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President Donald Trump dismantled the US National Security Council’s pandemic response unit in 2018 ― a subject he claims to know nothing about now that the country is being buffeted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump explicitly denied any responsibility for mishandling the Covid-19 crisis at a news conference on Friday, where he told PBS reporter Yamiche Alcindor he didn’t “know anything about” his former national security adviser’s elimination of the White House global health security team.
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Instead, he called Alcindor’s question “nasty” and moved on.
“I just think it’s a nasty question,” Trump said. “When you say ‘me,’ I didn’t do it ... You say we did that, I don’t know anything about it.”
He did do it. And there’s video above of him discussing his justification last month.
“I’m a business person,” the president said in a White House press briefing in late February. “I don’t like having thousands of people around when you don’t need them.”
“Some of the people we’ve cut they haven’t been used for many, many years, and if we ever need them we can get them very quickly and rather than spending the money.”
The National Security Council’s Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense was created under President Barack Obama after the 2014 Ebola outbreak, The New York Times pointed out. It included health and biodefense experts to coordinate the US response to global health threats.
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Senator Sherrod Brown called out Trump for claiming ignorance of his actions to disband the pandemic team. Last week, Brown circulated a letter he sent the White House in 2018 questioning the wisdom of eliminating the global health security office:
Not true, @realDonaldTrump. I wrote to you more than 600 days ago demanding answers after you fired the entire White House pandemic team. https://t.co/ICbHOkyeyY pic.twitter.com/71OF9gKA3N — Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown) March 13, 2020
“The administration’s proposed budget cuts threaten our ability to respond to a public health emergency,” Brown warned at the time. “In our globalised world, where diseases are never more than a plane ride away, we must do all we can to prepare for the next, inevitable outbreak and keep Americans safe from disease.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-18--'There’s A Lot Of Covid-19 In Westminster' Says Virus-Hit Academic Who Was With PM Days Ago

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An infectious disease expert who has been advising Boris Johnson and the government is now self isolating after developing symptoms of coronavirus.
Confirming the news on Twitter, Professor Neil Ferguson said that coronavirus is rife in Westminster.
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Ferguson, the director of J-IDEA and the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, posted on Wednesday: “Developed a slight dry but persistent cough yesterday and self isolated even though I felt fine. Then developed high fever at 4am today.”
“There is a lot of Covid-19 in Westminster,” he added.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4′s Today programme on Wednesday, Ferguson admitted he had been at a Downing Street press conference on Monday, and that there was a “slight” risk he might have infected someone there.
HuffPost UK saw him in the front row at Monday’s press conference.
“I’ve been in so many meetings in the last few weeks and a number of my colleagues from other universities who’ve also been advising government in those meetings, have also developed symptoms,” he told the programme.
“Central London is really the hotspot in the UK at the moment so there’s almost certainly thousands of cases [...] so it’s not that surprising.”
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Asked if Westminister is a hotspot, Ferguson said: ″There is a lot [of cases] and I’ve been in lots of meetings, contacting a lot of people.”
Ferguson is part of the Imperial College Covid-19 response team – which is one of several scientific teams advising ministers.
Professor Neil Ferguson YouTube
It published a paper showing that 250,000 people could die if efforts were focused only on delaying and slowing down the spread of Covid-19.
The paper analysed the most up-to-date data from Italy and the UK and concluded that the only “viable strategy” was a Chinese-style policy of “suppression” of the virus, elements of which have now been adopted in the UK.
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This comes after Labour MP for Jarrow Kate Osborne confirmed she has been diagnosed with coronavirus on Monday following a period of self-isolation and subsequent testing.
Last Tuesday, Health minister Nadine Dorries has said she has been diagnosed with the virus.
The Tory MP, who is thought to have mixed with hundreds of people at Westminster in recent days and was at a Downing Street reception attended by Boris Johnson, fell ill on the Friday before.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-18--US Senator Worries Too Much Coronavirus Relief Will Make People Lazy

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Senator Ron Johnson is concerned that if the federal government steps in too much to help workers affected by the coronavirus crisis, it will make people lazy.
The House has passed legislation that would offer paid leave for some workers if they or their families are affected by COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
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Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee and is concerned about giving people too much relief from an economic downturn caused by the spread of the coronavirus. Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Johnson, in comments in USA Today on Monday, said he was worried about “incentivising people to not show up for work.”
“You have to think this thing through in terms of what are the unintended consequences of good intentions,” he said.
A group of conservative economists put out a similar statement Tuesday, saying such benefits ― like allowing people to take time off, without penalty if they are sick, so they don’t die or infect others ― would “discourage work.”
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Joint statement by conservatives Stephen Moore, Art Laffer, Steve Forbes: "Don’t expand welfare and other income redistribution benefits like paid leave and unemployment benefits that will inhibit growth and discourage work" — Jeffrey Stein (@JStein_WaPo) March 17, 2020
This is a common refrain from conservatives, even when the coronavirus is not a factor. Basically any government assistance besides tax breaks ― food stamps, housing aid, unemployment benefits ― are believed to encourage sloth and greed.
People are not taking time off right now by choice, or because they are lazy. They are sick. Their families are sick. Their jobs are temporarily on hold because everything is getting shut down to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Or, in a growing number of cases, they are simply getting laid off. People are not being allowed to work because places like restaurants, movie theatres, shops and schools are all closed.
Johnson also said he was worried about the effect of the legislation, known as the Families First Act, on small businesses that would be forced to “pay wages they cannot afford.”
But the bill ― which House Democrats have watered down under pressure from the White House and business groups ― does make accommodations for small businesses. Companies with fewer than 50 workers can apply for hardship relief and get out of providing paid sick and family leave, if approved by President Donald Trump’s administration.
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Companies that have to offer leave would receive a tax credit, although some Republicans are concerned the benefit would reach employers too late.
The original bill provided 12 weeks of paid leave for workers who have COVID-19, are forced to quarantine, show symptoms, are exposed to the virus or are trying to get tested.
But Democrats agreed to weaken the provision so that now, paid family leave will only be available to parents who are home with children due to school closures. And instead of 12 days, people who are sick would get only 10 days of paid sick leave ― which is even farther from the 14 days of self-quarantine recommended under federal guidelines.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-18--How To Prepare For A Mild Case Of Coronavirus

As cases of Covid-19 continue to climb, people have been preparing for the possibility that they, too, may contract coronavirus.
You’ve likely read that most people with the disease experience “mild symptoms” that have been compared to the flu or a cold ― fever, fatigue, dry cough, aches, chills, sore throat, runny nose and diarrhoea. More severe symptoms include shortness of breath, chest pain and pneumonia.
Many people with mild symptoms may treat their illness at home, while self-isolating. With that in mind, HuffPost spoke to a few doctors to find out how to treat these mild cases and what supplies you’ll want to have on hand as you recover from a flu-like illness at home.
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(Hint: It’s not a six-month supply of toilet paper.)
Self-Isolate
“First and foremost, if you experience mild symptoms such as cough, fever, sore throat, body aches, diarrhoea, and/or runny nose, you should self-isolate ― meaning stay home and away from others,” Daniel Berliner, a physician at the virtual health platform PlushCare, told HuffPost.
Avoiding other people is a good practice for cold and flu-like illnesses generally. It also provides the opportunity to get lots of rest.
If you live with family members or roommates, keep at least two metres between you and others at home for 14 days. Stay in a separate room and use a different bathroom if possible.
“Avoid sharing personal household items,” said Tony Yuan, a physician and medical director at Doctor On Demand. “Set aside separate dishes, drinking glasses, eating utensils, towels, and bedding solely for your use.”
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Stay Hydrated
It’s important to drink lots of fluids when you’re feeling sick.
“With a fever, you want to make sure you don’t get dehydration, and simple hydration will consistently prevent that side effect while you’re sick,” noted Jake Deutsch, a physician and founder of Cure Urgent Care.
While water is obviously a good choice, Yuan also recommended drinks with electrolytes. Indeed, a cruise ship passenger who tested positive for Covid-19 wrote in The Washington Post that much of his hospital treatment consisted of “what felt like gallons and gallons of Gatorade ”
Berliner said juices and other nutrient-filled beverages can help as well, but ultimately, the goal is just to stay hydrated to avoid hospitalisation if possible.
“Your ability to urinate and have bowel movements should not decrease when you are sick at home, as that could be a sign of not taking in enough fluids and food and lead to dehydration ― making you sicker and in need of care in a health facility,” said Berliner.
Eat Well
In addition to drinking lots of fluids, you’ll want to eat a balanced diet. As experts have noted, it’s good to stock up on a two-week supply of nonperishable food items like soup, pasta, rice, and canned foods.
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Deutsch recommended fruits and vegetables, foods that are high in vitamins and nutrients, and some carbohydrates. Yuan noted that broth, chicken soup, garlic, yogurt, leafy greens and vitamin C-containing fruits can be good for the immune system, too.
“As many local stores and mail-order vendors are limiting their hours and running out of needed supplies, you do need to prepare now at home so that you and your family can survive at home for a 14-day self-isolation period when you may not be able to easily obtain more food and cleaning items,” Berliner explained.
“However, buying excessive amounts of these items ― hoarding supplies ― will only serve to make the situation more stressful for everyone as there will not be enough for others and result in you and your neighbours behaving in likely unpleasant ways to one another.”
Maria Fjeldgaard-Sundstrøm / EyeEm via Getty Images
Take Meds If You Need
Take stock of your medical supplies when preparing for a possible case of coronavirus.
“Have Tylenol on hand to bring down your fever,” Deutsch advised, adding that supplements like vitamin C and zinc can boost your immune system as well.
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He and Yuan both recommended medications to address other symptoms, including decongestants containing phenylephrine or pseudoephedrine, cough suppressants with dextromethorphan, and expectorants containing guaifenesin.
“For people who have other medical problems, you’re going to want to make sure you have your supplies for that such as asthmatics and medications you would need for your asthma,” said Deutsch. “People that have underlying conditions and are prone to getting infections like bronchitis or emphysema, having a course of antibiotics readily available might be something to discuss with your doctor as well.”
A thermometer is also good to have on hand to track your fever.
Practise Good Hygiene
While home recuperating from a mild case of Covid-19 or flu-like illness, it’s important to keep practising good hygiene.
“This includes coughing and sneezing into one’s elbow and not onto others, wiping down touched surfaces with disinfectant, thoroughly washing one’s hands with soap and water for 20 seconds after bathroom use and after any contact with possibly contaminated surfaces, and generally staying clean by showering and wearing clean clothes at home,” Berliner explained.
It’s also important to thoroughly clean high-touch surfaces like counters, tabletops, doorknobs, keyboards and toilets. Be sure to have disinfecting wipes and disposable latex gloves.
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Monitor Your Symptoms
As you take care of yourself in isolation, pay attention to your symptoms and be on the lookout for more severe ones like high fever or difficulty breathing. Contact a doctor for more guidance if things don’t get better.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-18--10 Batsh*t Neighbours Storylines That We Promise Aren't Made Up

Neighbours has seen its fair share of drama Network 10/HuffPost
Considering it’s set in a quiet cul-de-sac in the suburbs of Melbourne, you might have thought Neighbours took a slower approach when it comes to drama.
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Not so.
In fact, Ramsay Street has seen its fair share of absolutely batshit crazy storylines over the years.
Among the usual affairs, domestic disputes and hatches, matches and dispatches, there have been some moments that make even Footballers’ Wives look tame.
With Neighbours airing its final-ever episode after 37 years, we’re looking back it some of the show’s most surreal storylines, for which it is often fondly remembered...
1. The plane crash
During the mid-2000s, Neighbours storylines got rather heightened, with one particular plot to celebrate the 20th anniversary proving to be divisive among fans.
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It saw Lassiters owner Paul Robinson charter a joy flight to Tasmania in honour of the hotel’s 20th birthday, with many Ramsay Street residents on board.
The Bishop family was killed off in the Neighbours plane crash Network 10
However, disaster was awaiting them, as a mystery assailant had planted a bomb on board.
After it went off mid-flight, it caused the plane to crash into the Bass Strait, leaving the likes of Paul, Izzy Hoyland (Natalie Bassingthwaighte), Elle Robinson (Pippa Black) and Susan Kinski’s (Jackie Woodburne) lives in danger.
It killed all three members of Harold Bishop’s family, with son David, daughter in-law Liljana and granddaughter Serena all missing at sea with their bodies never recovered.
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The disaster prompted mild-mannered Christian Harold to attempt to strangle Paul, blaming him for his family’s death.
Harold attempted to strangle Paul Network 10
It was later revealed that Paul’s evil son Robert was actually responsible for the bomb, as he had been seeking revenge on his father for abandoning him as a child.
He had spent months exacting his plan while in Erinsborough, posing as his twin Cameron, who he had put in a coma to stop him from foiling his plans.
2. Steph and Toadie’s sham marriage
There had been an attraction between mechanics Steph Scully (Carla Bonner) and Lucas Fitzgerald (Scott Major) for years, but when it finally looked like they were about to get together in 2009, Steph caught best friend Libby Kennedy (Kym Valentine) kissing him, following a breakdown in her marriage to his brother Dan (Brett Tucker).
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Hurt, Steph ended up having sex with Dan and later discovered she was pregnant with his child, leaving her worried about how the truth would destroy her friendship with Libby.
Steph and Toadie staged a fake relationship after she fell pregnant by her best friend's husband Network 10
She confessed the truth to best mate and ex-fiancé Toadie Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney), who agreed to help by faking a relationship with her and telling their friends and family the baby was his.
Toadie suggested the pair get married to make their lie look more convincing, but their wedding upset his ex-girlfriend Sonya Mitchell (Eve Morey), with Steph later letting her in on the secret.
However, after Dan was involved in a motorbike accident, Steph confessed the truth to him, but the conversation was recorded by dastardly Paul Robinson, who then exposed the sham by playing the recording in the pub to all the locals, including Libby.
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The fallout was the catalyst for Steph’s first departure from the show, which saw her suffer from post natal depression and end up in prison after knocking down local lad Ringo Brown (Sam Clark) on her motorbike and killing him.
3. Fake Dee
Madeline West played two characters at the same time in 2019 Network 10
Every Neighbours fan remembers how tragic bride Dee Bliss (Madeline West) seemingly met a watery grave on her wedding day when husband Toadie accidentally drove their car off a cliff in 2003.
Nearly 14 years later, “Dee” was back on Ramsay Street, having returned from the dead, claiming to have suffered amnesia after the accident.
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However, it turned out she was actually a Dee look-a-like called Andrea Somers who was trying to con Toadie out of his life savings.
Her true identity was revealed after Toadie had given into his resurfaced feelings for Dee and slept with her in a London hotel, as his horrified wife Sonya accidentally watched on via Skype.
"Dee" returned to Ramsay Street in 2017, but was actually a con woman called Andrea Channel 5
It was later revealed that Andrea was pregnant from her encounter with Toadie and gave birth to a son, but was sent to a psychiatric ward after suffering a mental breakdown.
Months later, Andrea’s mother arrived in Erinsborough posing as a nanny called Alice, embedding herself in the Rebecchi household with a plot of getting rid of Sonya in the belief it would bring Toadie and Andrea together.
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Alice was exposed after attempting to kill Sonya, who ended up dying for real months later after being diagnosed with cervical cancer.
Andrea's mother posed as a nanny and tried to kill Sonya Network 10
But in another complicated twist, Madeleine then ended up playing two characters at the same time in 2019, when Dee really did return from the dead (she’d been living covertly up the coast as a woman called Karen for 16 years after witnessing a gang murder) for a clifftop showdown with Andrea.
It was later revealed the two were actually twin sisters separated at birth by a misguided nun.
Dee and Andrea were finally brought face-to-face Network 10
4. Finn Kelly
Finn Kelly arrived in Erinsborough as the former flame of Susan’s niece Elly Conway (Jodie Ansta), becoming a teacher at the local high school. However, it quickly emerged he was hiding a sinister side.
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Finn Kelly has made multiple appearances since 2017 Network 10
Plotting to win Elly back and oust Susan as principal, he groomed pupil Xanthe Canning (Lilly Van der Meer) into helping him. He interfered with Susan’s MS medication, leading to her hospitalisation and his promotion.
When his true colours were exposed, he went on the run before later being arrested. But months later, he was back on the show out for revenge against Elly and Susan.
Posing as a disabled man called Patrick, he was revealed as the boyfriend of Elly’s sister Bea (Bonnie Anderson) who had no idea of his real identity.
Finn returned dating Elly's sister Bea Network 10
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After a number of weeks laying the groundwork, he lured Elly, Susan and Bea into a shipping container, locking them in and leaving them for dead, before disappearing again.
Months later, he returned again when Bea found him hiding out at a cabin. After Susan and Elly rushed to her aid, the women had a clifftop confrontation with him and Susan ended up pushing him off the edge in self defence, leaving him in a coma.
After it was later revealed Finn had planted canisters of cyanide in the school air vents, in an attempt to kill all the staff and pupils, Susan came close to smothering him in hospital. But when he woke from his coma, Finn was suffering from amnesia, believing himself to be 19 years old. He was also a different character, and did not remember various traumas that had turned him into the twisted man he was previously.
Susan tried to smother Finn Network 10
He escaped prison when evidence was lost in a police fire, and was then invited to live at the Kennedy household, with the family believing he was no longer a threat to society.
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Following this, he continued to live on Ramsay Street for a number of months, embedding himself in the community, and even embarking on a relationship with Bea.
Sadly, memories of his evil self began to resurface when he experienced growing feelings towards Elly, placing him in inner conflict as he wrestled with his two personalities. The 35th anniversary episodes in 2020 saw him no longer able to suppress his former self, as he exacted revenge when a group of locals head to a remote island to celebrate Elly’s birthday.
After murdering Gary Canning, he kidnapped Elly’s daughter and aunt Susan, but was killed off after a showdown with Elly, which saw him fall into a watery grave.
5. Susan’s amnesia
Amnesia had been used as a plot device on Neighbours countless times before Finn Kelly (it famously explained Harold Bishop’s five-year absence after he was believed to have been washed out to sea), with Susan Kennedy experiencing it herself back in 2002.
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A kitchen accident saw her slip on some split milk, with her coming round believing it was 1972 and the night before her 16th birthday.
Struggling to accept her family, her surroundings and even the way she looked, Susan set off in pursuit of finding her teenage boyfriend having told Karl that she didn’t like him.
After months of therapy, slowly some small memories started to return, and she fell in love with Karl once again.
As the pair married again in front of their family and neighbours, Susan’s memory returned and she was able to recite her original wedding vows.
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6. Libby’s transformation
Kym Valentine (left) and Michala Banas both played Libby in 2008 Network 10
After actor Kym Valentine had to take an extended period of time off due to health issues in 2008, bosses were left panicking as the character was central to a number of plots that were unfolding at the time.
But rather than place them on hold, they recast the character with McLeod’s Daughters star Michala Banas taking over the role while Kym recovered.
The final episode before the Christmas break that year saw Libby as one of several characters involved in a school rafting expedition. The cliffhanger saw the character going under the water, as played by Michala, with Libby then resurfacing as Kym when the show returned in the new year.
7. Bouncer’s dream
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One of Neighbours’ most surreal scenes ever saw beloved Ramsay Street pooch Bouncer taking centre stage, as viewers entered his mind during a dream sequence.
It saw the Golden Labrador dreaming that he’d married Border Collie Rosie, who lived with Clarrie McLachlan’s (Frederick Parslow) next door.
During an interview, Anne Charleston (who played Madge Bishop) said that the “whole cast was mortified” about the storyline at the time.
“It reduced it to a three-year-old’s programme. It was very strange,” she said.
8. Callum’s parentage
In 2008, producers had planned for Toadie to adopt a child from Indonesia, but changed their minds and decided to introduce a young tearaway for him to look after instead.
Soon after, 10-year-old Callum was adopted by Toadie after his gran, who had looked after him since he was six, decided she was no longer capable of caring for him.
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Toadie and Callum Network 10
The following year, Toadie and Callum adopted a Labrador puppy that needed to be trained as a guide dog, which introduced dog trainer Sonya Mitchell, who Toadie embarked on a relationship with.
After a few bumps in the road, Sonya and Toadie were happy and settled when her sister Jade turned up, threatening to expose a secret from her past.
It was later revealed that Sonya was actually Callum’s mother, who had abandoned him as she battled alcoholism and drug addiction.
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This came as a huge surprise to fans, as there had been no clues pointing to Sonya’s real identity when she first arrived on the show – in fact, some character history had to be hastily rewritten so the plot could work, suggesting the development had not always been planned.
9. The balloon crash
Recently-released criminal Jacka Hills was on the warpath after Ned Willis (Ben Hall) slept with his wife Regan, and set about taking revenge against him and his family in 2016.
2016 saw Ramsay Street residents involved in a balloon crash Network 10
His plan was to sabotage the gas canisters on a hot air balloon his step-mum, Lauren Turner (Kate Kendall), sisters Piper Willis (Mavornee Hazel) and Paige Smith (Olympia Valance) and ex-girlfriend Elly Conway were set to enjoy a ride on. However, Regan also boarded the flight at the last moment.
The balloon crashed mid-flight, leaving the women fighting for their lives.
After bailing out of the balloon early, Paige was found by love interest, priest Jack Callaghan (Andrew Morley), suffering from hypothermia and taken to in a nearby shed to warm up – and warm up they did, as they ended up having sex and conceiving a baby.
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Jack and Paige had sex in a shed amid all the drama Network 10
As some background, Jack and Paige’s relationship had been rather complicated prior to this, as she’d met him as a handsome stranger just moments before a gas explosion ripped through Lassiters Hotel, which killed her half-brother.
Jack was left with amnesia (of course, this is Neighbours after all), not knowing his identity. Paige had helped him through trying to regain his memory, but was stunned when he later remembered he was a priest and put a stop to their growing attraction.
10. The tornado
A tornado ripped through Erinsborough in 2014, with several key characters placed in the centre of the action.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-18--The Definitive Ranking Of The 35 Greatest Neighbours Characters Of All Time: #10-1

Shutterstock/HuffPost
This article was originally published for Neighbours’ 35th anniversary in 2020.
After some tough competition, we are finally into the top 10 of our countdown of Neighbours’ greatest characters of the past 37 years.
We hope you’ll agree that this is the perfect blend (see what we did there?) of Erinsborough legends past and present, following the devastating news that the long-running soap is coming to an end later this year...
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10. Helen Daniels
Anne Haddy, 1985-97-
Shutterstock/Freemantle
Ask any 80s or 90s kid to name their favourite fictional granny, and Helen would top the list. Firm but fair, she was the voice of wisdom, providing a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on. Refreshingly, she also got on well with her son in law, Jim.
Helen brought a touch of class to Erinsborough and had her own life outside of the Robinson clan, establishing the chauffeur company Home James. Unfortunately she also had a knack for marrying bigamists or men who dropped dead soon after their nuptials. Helen also couldn’t get enough of holidaying in the Bungle Bungles and painting some of the worst portraits ever known to man.
=8. Scott Robinson #2 and Charlene Robinson
Jason Donovan, 1986-89; and Kylie Minogue, 1986-88
Shutterstock/Freemantle
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The Neighbours golden couple, nice guy Scott and feisty Charlene were so popular that their wedding attracted an astonishing 19.6 million UK viewers. They didn’t get off to a great start – schoolboy Scott was punched by tomboy ‘Lennie’ when he caught her breaking in to her mum Madge’s house. But we all soon became obsessed by their suburban Romeo & Juliet relationship, which flourished despite opposition from their concerned families.
Scott was one of Neighbours’ original male pin-ups, a good guy who formed a band with his mate Mike and aspired to break into journalism. Strong-willed dungaree-clad Charlene fought like cat and dog with her mum Madge and became a role model for teenage girls thanks to her apprenticeship as a mechanic.
These two had so much charm together, and reflected a more innocent time. There will always be a place in our hearts for Scott and Charlene – even if re-watching their wedding video is what killed poor Helen.
7. Mrs Mangel
Vivean Gray, 1986-88
Shutterstock/Freemantle
Soaps don’t tend to feature outright gossipy characters anymore, which is a shame. Although they may feel outdated, there’s still loads of comic mileage to be had from a nosy neighbour. So let’s all bow down before the mighty Nell Mangel, the greatest busybody to ever twitch a curtain.
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Harking back to a bygone, almost Victorian set of values, Mrs Mangel was constantly aghast at the rough and ready Ramsay Street shenanigans. (“This street leaves a lot to be desired,” she exclaimed while moving in). She was especially horrified by the antics of the local teenagers, kept a tight rein on her granddaughter Jane and would constantly clash with the equally formidable Madge Bishop. Despite all this, she had a fondness for Bouncer the dog and harboured an unrequited crush on her lodger, “Mr Bishop”.
It’s astonishing to think that one of the greatest comic creations to ever grace soaps was only in Neighbours for 18 months, but that’s testament to Mrs Mangel’s impact.
6. Toadie Rebecchi
Ryan Moloney, 1995-
Shutterstock/Freemantle
One of the greatest joys of watching soaps is in seeing the lives of long-term characters unfold over many years, with Toadie being a prime example. Brought in on a recurring basis as the ‘tearaway teen’ brother of established character Stonefish, Toadie quickly became a fan favourite.
We’ve seen him go from a class clown with a tendency towards vandalism to becoming a lawyer, a family man and a respected pillar of the community. Along the way he’s ditched the Hawaiian shirts and the greasy ponytail and embraced suburban office attire and a crew cut.
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Toadie’s love life has been disastrous (the repercussions of the Dee/Andrea saga are still being felt) and he’ll always miss Sonya, who wonderfully always called him by his real name, Jarrod. But Karl and Susan still keep an eye out for him. This Aussie everyman has earned his place among the Neighbours greats and we hope he’s around for many more years to come.
5. Madge Bishop
Anne Charleston, 1986-92; 1996-2001; 2015
Shutterstock/Freemantle
Representing generations of Aussie women whose toughness earned the respect of their menfolk, Madge was a forthright force of nature. A classic soap matriarch, she arrived carrying a whole load of emotional baggage - her husband had cheated on her, her son was in jail and her daughter was a teen runaway.
Madge soon became one of the audience’s favourite characters, and we loved her exasperated maternal cries of “Charleeene!”
Opposites Attract, as future Neighbours guest star Paula Abdul once sang, and Madge’s unlikely relationship with Harold cemented her status. He was her first boyfriend from their youth in Brisbane and their rekindled romance saw Madge head up the aisle again. (To the dismay of Harold’s landlady, Mrs Mangel).
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Madge’s biggest moment came in 1991 during a dream drive around Australia which turned nightmarish when Harold was swept off some beachside rocks to his ‘death.’ (We sometimes wake up in a cold sweat with Madge’s hoarse wail – “Harold! Answer me, love!” – ringing in our ears).
Happily, the two would be reunited five years later, until Madge’s moving death from pancreatic cancer in 2001. In true Neighbours style, Ghost Madge paid Harold a visit for the 30th anniversary.
4. Harold Bishop
Ian Smith, 1987-1991; 1996-2009; 2011; 2015
Neighbours Shutterstock/Freemantle
A tuba-playing Salvation Army volunteer, prim and proper Harold was an old-fashioned fusspot who became the heart and soul of Neighbours. His marriage to the fiery Madge provided viewers with a classic partnership, as did his rivalry and eventual friendship with Lou.
We thought we’d seen the last of the coffee shop king in 1991 when he was missing, presumed dead. But in the best soap resurrection since Bobby Ewing, Harold reappeared five years later, suffering amnesia and calling himself Ted. Poor Harold would lose several family members along the way, including daughter Kerry and son David, but he and Madge also welcomed the odd troubled youth into their home.
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Deservedly driving off into the sunset in a trailer to live the great Australian retirement dream, we still miss old Jelly Belly.
=2. Dr Karl Kennedy and Susan Kennedy
Alan Fletcher, 1994-; and Jackie Woodburne 1994-
Shutterstock/Freemantle
He’s the doctor with the implausibly broad array of medical specialisms. She’s the respected principal of Erinsborough High who exudes calm authority. Together this dream team are the ones their neighbours turn to in times of crisis – the bedrock of Ramsay Street. But it hasn’t always been plain sailing for the Kennedys.
Arriving with their three children – Malcolm, Libby and Billy – in tow, Karl and Susan were a solid, dependable family unit. Karl’s affair with his younger secretary Sarah would later put the cat among the pigeons, leaving Susan truly devastated. (Little did she know that worse was to come in the form of Izzy).
These two have divorced and remarried and thankfully are currently very much ‘on’. They’ve survived infidelity, amnesia, surrogacy, multiple sclerosis and having a living room which sometimes resembles a thoroughfare.
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We still don’t know exactly what’s in their secretive ‘blue box’ that’s stashed away in their bedroom – although we can have a pretty good guess. But we do know that whatever life throws at them, Karl and Susan will make it.
1. Paul Robinson
Stefan Dennis, 1985-93; 2004–
Shutterstock/Freemantle
The lothario of Lassiters, Paul is the scoundrel that Neighbours viewers absolutely love to hate. He’s been around since episode one, although there was a decade-long break. Starting off as a pretty quiet, decent young man, his doomed first marriage to twisted Terry soon started Paul on the road to villainy.
Pursuing success in business has pushed Paul to be ruthless in his dealings, trampling on anyone who gets in his way. He does it with such relish that you can’t help but enjoy his schemes, no matter how extreme.
He’s one of the most married men in soap, and recently his four surviving ex-wives – Gail, Christina, Rebecca and Lyn – showed up in an unsuccessful bid to stop him marrying wife number six, Terese.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-18--Neighbours' Most Random Celebrity Cameos – From Sinitta To Janet Street-Porter

Neighbours is about to air its final-ever episode after 37 years, and over that time we’ve gotten to know hundreds of Erinsborough residents who’ve moved in and out of Ramsay Street.
From those characters, international stars such as Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Natalie Imbruglia, whose stints on the show will long be remembered, have emerged.
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However, there’s also been plenty of other well-known faces who have popped up in Ramsay Street as the soap is rather partial to a random celebrity cameo, as this lot prove...
Janet Street-Porter
ITV/Channel 5
The Loose Women star popped up in an episode playing herself in 2019, when she was seen at the Waterhole having a drink.
JSP later revealed she had a surprise connection to Colette Mann, the actor who plays Sheila Canning, as they used to work together on Australian television in the 1980s.
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She told her Loose Women co-stars: “I hosted a daily TV show at seven o’clock every evening on one of the main channels, channel nine, and the actress, whose bag I nicked [in the scene], worked with me!
“So when I went on the set she went ‘well, I haven’t seen you for a few years!’” But Janet had forgotten her name, joking: “I was thinking what’s her name, what’s her name, what’s her name!”
Emma Bunton
Network 10
While Posh was off rebranding herself as a fashion designer in a post-Spice Girls world, Emma Bunton was busy hanging out with Karl and Susan Kennedy, when she popped up in a series of episodes filmed in the UK in 2007.
Lily Allen
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Lily Allen paid a visit to Erinsborough at the height of her fame in 2009, when she dropped in to have a chat on Zeke Kinski’s radio show, also singing her song 22 on the airwaves.
Neil Morrissey
The Men Behaving Badly star officiated the nuptials as Karl and Susan Kennedy renewed their wedding vows on the Thames.
However, proceedings were interrupted by a pregnant Izzy Hoyland, who dropped the bombshell that she was carrying Karl’s baby.
Shane Warne
Network 10
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The late Warnie had a cameo role in the soap in 2006, when he visited Charlie’s Bar to meet the locals, who were dumbfounded to be in the presence of the cricket legend.
Courtney Act
Network 10
RuPaul’s Drag Race star Courtney Act, who originates from Australia, made a cameo in Neighbours’ special Mardi Gras episode, which saw couple David Tanaka and Aaron Brennan heading to Sydney for the LGBTQ+ street celebration.
Jake Shears
Network 10
Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears was also part of the 2020 Mardi Gras episode, with Aaron approaching him, claiming to have previously danced for his band.
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Hanson
Network 10
The US boyband, famous for their 90s hits Mmmbop, treated couple Kyle Canning and Amy Williams to a private show in the coffee shop in 2019.
Matt Lucas and David Walliams
Network 10/Fremantle
The Little Britain pair took their characters of Lou and Andy Down Under when the appeared on the soap in 2007.
While they didn’t have a speaking part, they could clearly be seen in the back of a scene involving Pepper Steiger getting up to their usual tricks.
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Paula Abdul
Network Ten
Former American Idol judge Paula found herself at the end of unwanted attention from Karl Kennedy when she appeared on the soap in 2014, with the local doctor confessing he’d been harbouring a life-time crush on the Straight Up singer.
Sinitta and Jonathan Coleman
Network 10
Eighties pop star and X Factor’s resident fashionista Sinitta appeared in Neighbours in 2007, when she and late radio DJ Jonathan Coleman played witnesses at Karl and Susan’s wedding on the Thames.
Clive James
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The late chat show host had a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it role as a postman in 1996, but most of his scenes were sadly left on the cutting room floor.
Script writer Helen MacWhirter told Perfect Blend of his performance: “Clive’s such a spunk. From what I can recall though, I think I wrote a lot more for his character than what eventually appeared on the screen.”
Julian Clary
Comic Julian Clary made a fleeting appearance in 2007, when Izzy Hoyland stopped him in the street to use his mobile phone during the episodes shot in London.
Jess Glynne
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The British singer was one of the acts who was booked to perform at the Live At Lassiters festival in 2019, singing one of her hits in the Waterhole pub.
Michael Parkinson
Network 10
The talk show legend proved to be a recognisable face for London tourist Karl Kennedy in 2007, when the doctor bumped into him in the street and asked for an autograph.
Andre Rieu
In one of the soap’s most bizarre scenes ever (and that’s saying something), the Dutch violinist paid a visit to Ramsay Street to surprise Paul Robinson’s wife Rebecca, and soon all the residents were waltzing around the cul-de-sac.
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Amanda Holden
Channel 5 via PA Media
Amanda landed a guest role in the soap’s final months when she was cast as the aunt of regular character Harlow Robinson (who also happened to be played by Ramsay Street legend Jason Donovan’s daughter Jemma).
Amanda didn’t get to jet out to Australia to film her scenes though, as the storyline saw Harlow tracking down her aunt Harriet in London.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Fremantle/Channel 5
The Murder On The Dancefloor singer also popped up during Neighbours’ 2022 London episodes, playing herself in scenes where Harlow misplaced a diary belonging to her late mother.
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Denise Van Outen
DVO joined the cast of Neighbours in a guest role in 2019, playing Harlow’s mother Prue.
Prue was trying to reconnect with her daughter after being recruited into a cult, but the character met an untimely end the following year when she was killed off in a car bomb during the 35th anniversary celebrations.
Tim Vine
PA
The comic made a random appearance in 2009, when he popped up asking for directions to Lassiters Hotel.
Jo Whiley
PA
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-18--My Family Had To Do Social Distancing For Five Weeks In 2014. Here's What We Learned

HuffPost UK Courtesy of the author
Six years ago this month, my family was forced to do a modified version of social distancing, but we were in it alone.
In the spring of 2014, my then eight-year-old daughter Sammi was scheduled for major cardiac surgery. My husband and I knew about it several months beforehand but had decided not to tell her and her big sister, Ronni, who was 11 at the time, until about a week before the surgery. We didn’t want to give them too much time to worry about it.
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What we didn’t know then was that five weeks before the big day, the surgeon’s assistant would call and tell us to start avoiding potential sources of contagion for Sammi.
“We’d love to tell families to pull their kids out of school for the month before surgery,” she said, “but we know that’s not really realistic for most people. So, we recommend canceling all of her activities except for school.”
I was shocked. “You mean, like, soccer?”
“Absolutely no sports,” she said, “and also other things like after-school clubs or birthday parties.”
She went on to suggest we avoid all concerts, plays and other large gatherings. The goal, she explained, was to limit the number of places Sammi could contract something as simple as a cold. With any respiratory infection at all, the surgery would have to be canceled. We’d already postponed surgery so she could have it over spring break, thereby missing a little less school. She needed the surgery to resolve her cardiac issues, so waiting even longer would be hard. Worse, if she had the surgery and then came down with a cold two days later, it would drastically compromise her recovery.
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And so we embarked on three weeks of sneakily canceling everything. We reached out to her teacher and the parents of her friends, who helped us by pushing better hand-washing and hygiene practices in the classroom, and we just stopped going to tae kwon do or school chorus. She was young enough not to notice. We made up excuses for why we couldn’t attend our synagogue’s carnival for the Purim holiday and instead designed a special Purim celebration at her grandmother’s house, replete with a fancy nail polish station, a glow-in-the-dark glitter jar craft project, a big puzzle, and a costume photoshoot. Playdates were all outside.
My husband and I did our best to de-germ ourselves when we came home each day, washing our hands and wiping down doorknobs and TV remotes with Clorox wipes. We all started taking vitamins religiously, a practice that had been haphazard before. We told the kids that we were trying to prevent me from getting a cold during my worst asthma season.
“My husband and I did our best to stay six feet away from Ronni at all times. She was only 11, and it was terrible ... We took every immunity-boosting vitamin and supplement we could find, and we washed our hands for 20 seconds at a time, singing 'Happy Birthday' twice.”
At the beginning of week four, we told Sammi and Ronni about the upcoming surgery, cushioning the news with a brand-new iPad. We breathed a sigh of relief to be in the home stretch with just over a week to go.
Two days later, our older daughter Ronni got a cold.
We were frantic. We sprayed Lysol everywhere, banished the kids to separate rooms and called the surgeon’s assistant.
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“What do we do?” we asked.
“Get Sammi out of there immediately,” she answered.
Resigned, we drove Sammi out to her grandmother’s house, where she spent the next four days isolated from everyone else. At home, my husband and I did our best to stay six feet away from Ronni at all times. She was only 11, and it was terrible. We apologized over and over, bringing her milkshakes and new books and letting her watch Harry Potter movies until her eyes glazed over. We took every immunity-boosting vitamin and supplement we could find, and we washed our hands for 20 seconds at a time, singing “Happy Birthday” twice.
Thank goodness, it worked.
After four days, we brought Sammi home, though still kept our girls in separate rooms. After six days, we were two days from her surgery, and we let her go outside and play in the park with her best friend. Ronni wore a surgical mask whenever Sammi and she were in the same room.
On the eighth day after Ronni came down with her cold, Sammi went to the hospital for her surgery. It went well, and ― just as importantly ― she never got Ronni’s cold.
During that whole time, the rest of the world went on as normal, with people sneezing on the handles of grocery carts and hugging each other and sharing germs with the world, but for the first time, I was noticing it all.
Courtesy of Debi Lewis Sammi in the hospital, FaceTiming with her friends.
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Our experience with social distancing prepared us well, it turns out, for what the rest of the world is going through right now. We had to adjust our expectations, keep our children entertained, keep our own anxiety manageable, and get through it. Of course, we had an end date in mind, which certainly helped, but we were doing it alone, which didn’t.
The most important similarity is the stakes involved. After seeing Sammi with three IV lines and two chest drainage tubes and half a dozen monitors attached to her, I understood immediately why adding a respiratory infection to this recovery would have been incredibly dangerous. People with fragile health need our protection. Hard as it would have been for me ― and for Sammi ― to be away from her as she recovered in the hospital, I’d have stayed home if I got Ronni’s cold. It would have broken my heart and caused me horrible anxiety, but it also would have saved her life.
All these years later, memories of that time have hit my family in different ways. Recently, Sammi reminded me of our makeshift Purim celebration. She spoke fondly of the fun time we had doing the puzzle and making the art at her grandmother’s house, and asked if I remembered, too. I told her that of course I did, and asked her if she knew why we’d celebrated that way in 2014. She didn’t. She had no idea of the anxiety beneath the surface for her father and I. All she remembered was the fun.
As parents all over the world are navigating this same kind of lemons-to-lemonade attitude shift, it’s worth considering the gifts this will bring. When I think about the things we did to make the experience easier on our kids, it was mostly about shifting gears without focusing on what was missing.
The new iPad was something we’d insisted we would never buy for our kids, but desperate times called for a change in attitude. Not going to restaurants forced me to get creative with our at-home cooking, and we made a lot of fun treats during that time. We invested in some new games, read some fantastic new books, and learned that Sammi was unbeatable in Uno. In some ways, it was a new riff on “sure, your tonsils are coming out, but think of all the ice cream!”
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“We managed it then — sometimes gracefully and sometimes not — and so will the rest of the world. Loosen your rules, look for the gifts, and be aware of the shifting dynamics in your home.”
Even distancing our girls from each other while Ronni was sick allowed them to realize how much they loved each other, shouting from one room to the next and asking us daily when they could finally hug. Leveling with our friends about the need for careful hygiene and distancing from anyone with a sniffle taught us whom we could trust. Relationships tightened over FaceTime while Sammi was in the hospital, including through sweet video messages between friends who didn’t have access to real-time videoconferencing. We relished our closeness as a family and learned to navigate each other when that closeness got stifling.
As it was for us in 2014, this current need for physical distancing is high-stakes and nonnegotiable. We managed it then – sometimes gracefully and sometimes not – and so will the rest of the world. Loosen your rules, look for the gifts, and be aware of the shifting dynamics in your home. We’ll get through it together – well, six feet apart.
Debi Lewis is a writer from Evanston, Illinois. You can find her on Twitter at @GrowTheSunshine and by visiting her website, DebiLewis.com. This article first appeared on HuffPost US Personal.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-18--Simple Stretches You Should Be Doing While Working From Home

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Six months into working from home and many have permanently swapped their office work station for the kitchen table, sofa, or (dare we say it) bed. This might be comfy option in the short term, but poor posture can be a fast track ticket towards neck and back ache.
“The problem is sitting slouched over in a c-shaped posture while being stressed out about the universe falling apart,” physiotherapist Sammy Margo tells HuffPost UK. “It means that all of your neck musculature and your middle-back musculature becomes either long and stretched, or short and tight.”
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To reduce the impact of these kinds of aches and pains during the coronavirus outbreak, Margo recommends a set of five simple stretches every two hours.
You don’t need to be a practised yogi or have vast athletic ability to reap the rewards – small, focused movements targeted to the problem areas will have the biggest impact.
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“What you’re seeking to do is rectify your posture to make sure that you are going through the full excursion of your muscles, joints and ligaments,” says Margo.
The five stretches she recommends completing throughout the day, holding each for a few seconds, are:
1. Put your chin down to your chest and look up to the ceiling.
HuffPost UK
2. Slowly turn your head to the left, then turn your head to the right.
HuffPost UK
3. Put your left ear to your left shoulder, then your right ear to your right shoulder.
HuffPost UK
4. Interlink your fingers in front of you and stretch forwards.
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5. Interlink your fingers behind your back and stretch backwards.
HuffPost UK
While moving throughout the day is good practice in general, optimising your work from home set-up will mitigate the need for pain-relieving stretches.
Use a desk or table where possible, instead of giving into the lure of your bed – it really will help. As Ciaran Keen, an osteopath at the Centre for Health and Human Performance, previously told HuffPost UK, it’s best to sit close to the table with your screen at eye level and your mid-back supported.
Sammy Margo’s simple nudge for sitting better is “BBC”, which stands for “bum back (in) chair”. Remembering this should stop you slumping forwards or to one side as frequently.
She adds that looking after your general health – sleeping well, eating healthy food and exercising where possible – will also help to keep you feeling agile during this extended working from home period.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-18--It's Totally Normal To Feel Weird, Anxious Or Scared Right Now – We're In A Period Of Grief

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We’re here to guide you through the coronavirus lockdown. Sign up to the Life newsletter for daily tips, advice, how-tos and escapism.
Life as we know it is rapidly changing. Our work patterns, daily routines, and social lives look very different right now – and even our shopping, eating and exercise habits will undoubtedly take a hit over the coming days.
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Nervous, scared, angry, weird... that’s how you might be feeling. These aren’t normal times and, as such, there’s absolutely no ‘normal’ way to feel, say therapists. A few weeks ago there was rarely talk of Covid-19 in their sessions, but psychotherapist Natasha Page says the issue is increasingly brought up week-on-week.
“Obviously change for people can be challenging anyway, can’t it?” says Page, a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). “But this isn’t just a period of change, it’s also a period of uncertainty. It’s a period of people feeling quite scared and, obviously, isolated.”
Page likens what many of us are experiencing to a period of grief. “Sometimes we think of grief in terms of bereavement and losing a person, but actually the cycle of grief can be applied to situations like this,” she explains.
We’re losing work, money, routines. We’re losing our freedom as a lockdown comes into effect. “It might make people feel like they’re losing control,” she says. “And obviously there’s the potential of losing family members and your own health being at risk. It’s bound to make people feel nervous, scared, upset and angry – all of these emotions.”
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Many of us are also navigating this emotional rollercoaster with other people around us – our partners, housemates, and children. “It’s an enormous pressure placed on all our relationships,” says therapist Pam Custers. “It’s almost a bit like Brexit because inevitably one person will be more anxious than the other.”
So how can we best navigate the ups and downs of the next few months?
It’s important to get in touch with your emotions – do a mental look around and think about how you feel. “It’s absolutely normal to feel shock, denial and anger. But also feelings of overwhelm, depression and helplessness – they’re all part of the cycle of grief,” says Page. The next step is to move to a place of acceptance – this is the situation. Your new normal, if you like.
“We have to embrace the fact that life isn’t predictable,” adds Custers, a member of Counselling Directory. “External events like this can create chaos and cause us to lose focus. The way we can get back our sense of self, or what psychotherapists call our ‘secure base’, is focusing not on what you can’t control, but what you can control.”
“We have to embrace the fact that life isn’t predictable.” - Therapist Pam Custers
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One of Page’s clients who can’t work at the moment has started making her own clothes and doing more cooking. Creativity can be really helpful in a time of adversity – so if you’re looking for a way to take control back, why not try a new hobby at home?
Keeping a sense of structure and routine is also important, particularly as more people turn to remote working. “It’s so easy to wake up, slump around in your PJs, not brush your hair, and brush your teeth at midday,” says Custers. “But structure allows us to take control of our life – so we feel empowered by that.”
If, for example, you’d pick up a coffee and newspaper on the way to work, why not make yourself a coffee at home first thing or get a newspaper delivered to your door?
During a period where everything seems up in the air, we should also aim to find comfort in the smaller, less significant habits in our daily lives. Custers offers the example that at lunchtime, her golden retrievers go up to her, hoping for a biscuit. “It’s quite sweet,” she says, “so I pay attention to that habit of giving them a biscuit. Or making myself a nice cup of tea. You can find comfort in those habits.”
Four things you should focus on in your daily routines, at work or home, include: getting outside and spending time in nature, exercising (but keeping a distance from others and adhering to the lockdown measures), connecting with others digitally (whether through phone calls, Whatsapp groups or FaceTime), and continuing to prioritise sleep.
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“Try to have good sleep hygiene but also understand that if you’re waking up more often, that’s quite normal in terms of a change in mood, and hopefully that will be something that will pass in time,” adds Page.
There are small things we can be hopeful for – already, the coronavirus outbreak has shown us that humans have a huge capacity to be kind and establish a sense of community during the toughest times.
“I’m hoping people will get something from that patriotic feeling and connectedness,” says Page. “Even though it’s a horrible time for us, there is this sense of trying to pull together and that we are all in the same boat.”
Useful websites and helplines:


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-18--Why We Crave Human Touch – And How To Survive Without It During Coronavirus

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We’re here to guide you through the coronavirus lockdown. Sign up to the Life newsletter for daily tips, advice, how-tos and escapism.
From leaning into a friend as you howl with laughter to shaking hands with a new acquaintance, there’s a gaping absence in our lives during these strange days of the coronavirus outbreak: human touch.
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And now, Matt Hancock has suggested people may not be able to hug any friends or family they don’t live with until a coronavirus vaccine is developed.
It may sound trivial, but the lack (or even prohibition) of physical contact with other people can have a real impact on mental wellbeing, particularly if you live alone, says counselling psychologist Dr Chloe Paidoussis-Mitchell.
“For some, sadly this will be a trigger for depression, anxiety and feelings of upset, sadness, being deprived, being alone and being lonely,” she tells HuffPost UK.
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Psychotherapist Lucy Beresford explains we crave touch because it plays a fundamental role in our very existence. “Touch is part of our life from the very beginning, at birth, and conveys love and care without words,” she says.
“Physiologically, some studies have shown that skin-on-skin contact releases oxytocin – dubbed the ‘happy hormone’ – which helps mothers bond with baby, or lovers bond as a couple. Psychologically, the cuddling, stroking, massaging and nurturing that happens to us as a baby conveys a sense of being looked after and loved,” she adds.
“We carry that imprint with us as adults, so that welcome touch from someone makes us feel adored, loved or trusted.”
Other studies have suggested that hugs or massages can reduce levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, while triggering the release of serotonin, the hormone that regulates happiness.
Hinterhaus Productions via Getty Images
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If you’re someone who’s particularly tactile, this disruption to your usual hormone patterns could compound feelings of distress or anxiety around the Covid-19 outbreak, Beresford tells HuffPost UK.
“Without realising it, we might even start to feel helpless. We can even feel bereft, as though we have lost our loved ones in some way,” she adds.
Because of this, it’s important to compensate in novel ways to maintain a sense of connection. Beresford recommends trying a “virtual hug” if you’re having video calls with friends or family.
“When you next have a video call with friends or family, make time to hug yourself to them, and they back to you.”
“Virtual hugs may sound weird, but are actually good for you precisely because they are so hilarious – and laughter is the perfect stress-release,” she says. “When you next have a video call with friends or family, make time to hug yourself to them, and they back to you.”
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Paidoussis-Mitchel recommends mindful meditation or yoga to release the stress hormone, plus spending time outside where possible, gardening, watching birds or listening to birdsong. “Any time in nature helps to sooth us and connect us to something bigger than ourselves. This reduces symptoms of depression, anxiety and isolation,” she says.
Now is a good time to practise your favourite self-care techniques, Paidoussis-Mitchel adds, whether that’s journalling, listening to podcasts, or repeating a positive manta. You could even take inspiration from others, such as all the people we’ve interviewed in our self-care series, What Works For Me.