‘I got a whole new mindset’: the health secrets of people who got much fitter in lockdown

Many of us have struggled to maintain our fitness in 2020 – but not everyone. Here, four people explain how they improved their sleep patterns, diet and exercise regimes

Before Covid-19, an ordinary evening for Tim Ludford, a charity worker, looked something like this: after-work drinks with colleagues; an Uber home; a takeaway. “Not healthy takeaways, either,” says Ludford, 37, from London. He would polish off a curry for two people before nailing a bag of Maltesers or a packet of biscuits.

Ludford’s relationship with food began to deteriorate after the death from cancer of his father in 2013. “I was unhappy, first of all, and I was bingeing on food and alcohol as a coping mechanism,” he says. “A lot of it was related to my dad, but I was also stuck in a rut and food was an easy way to make myself feel good.” By the time lockdown was introduced, he was severely obese, with a BMI of 40. (A healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9, according to the NHS.) “Sometimes I’d do crazy things,” he says. “If I was on the way to meet someone for dinner, I’d go to KFC on the way. And then I’d eat dinner as well.”

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Eggs Benedict and tattoos: what Melburnians are looking forward to when lockdown ends

Some are packing their next few weeks full of activities, while others just want a chance to decompress

After a long dark night, there always comes the dawn, and for many Melburnians that dawn is a good strong coffee.

That’s certainly what retiree James Green missed the most. Visiting his local cafe is on the top of his list of things to do on Wednesday when hospitality venues in Melbourne are finally allowed to reopen.

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Global coronavirus report: Italian police use tear gas to disperse lockdown protests

WHO tells countries ‘not to give up’ as virus fatigue sets in; street clashes in Barcelona; US daily deaths rise 10% in two weeks

Police in Italy have fired tear gas to disperse angry crowds in the northern cities of Turin and Milan after protests against the latest round of anti-coronavirus restrictions flared into violence.

As the head of the World Health Organization urged countries “not to give up” in their fight to contain the virus, luxury goods shops, including a Gucci fashion shop, were ransacked in the centre of Turin as crowds of youths took to the streets after nightfall, letting off firecrackers and lighting coloured flares.

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Daniel Andrews gives Covid update as Victoria records zero coronavirus cases and Melbourne lockdown lifted – live

Premier expected to announce more details of city’s reopening after record-breaking Covid-19 lockdown, as federal parliament and Senate estimates return and questions continue over management of Australia Post. Follow latest updates

The rules for household visits will go through share houses, teenagers and who can visit who after a visit.

But they are complicated, so I will wait to go through them and then bring them to you once they are clear.

Back at Treasury estimates, the Labor senator Katy Gallagher is attempting to get either officials or the finance minister, Mathias Cormann, to acknowledge that workers earning less than $80,000 will get less tax relief in 2024-25 than they will get this year because of the one-off extension of the $1,080 offset in the October budget.

Treasury officials say the extension of the offset is a “classic stimulus measure” so it shouldn’t form part of an assessment of the tax scales in future years. They say this year’s budget includes extending the offset (the stimulus measure) and a tax cut through the bringing forward of the stage two tax cuts (a structural change).

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Coronavirus live news: Germany ‘could hit 20,000 new infections within days’; protests flare in Italy

German minister warns about exponential rise in new cases; protests against Covid restrictions turn violent in Milan and Turin

One of the world’s leading Covid-19 experimental vaccines produces an immune response in older adults as well as the young, its developers say, raising hopes of protection for those most vulnerable to the coronavirus that has caused social and economic chaos around the world.

Neither Oxford University nor its commercial partner AstraZeneca would release the data from the early trials showing the positive effects, which are being submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. But AstraZeneca confirmed the basic findings about the vaccine it calls AZD1222, which were shared at a closed academic meeting.

Related: Oxford Covid vaccine works in all ages, trials suggest

Structural racism led to the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus pandemic on black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities in the UK, a review by Dame Doreen Lawrence has concluded.

The report, commissioned by Labour, contradicts the government’s adviser on ethnicity, Dr Raghib Ali, who last week dismissed claims that inequalities within government, health, employment and the education system help to explain why Covid-19 killed disproportionately more people from minority ethnic communities.

Related: Structural racism led to worse Covid impact on BAME groups – report

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US and European markets dip as Covid containment efforts founder

Investors’ summer optimism gives way to insecurity as curfews and lockdowns return

Stock markets in the US and Europe fell sharply oas investors focused on signs that rich countries’ efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic were foundering.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 index lost 1.8% after heavy falls in German blue-chip stocks. In the US the Dow Jones industrial average closed 2.3% down at 27685.38, while the benchmark S&P 500 fell 1.9% to 3400.97.

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Global report: Merkel says Germany faces ‘difficult months ahead’ in Covid fight

Chancellor says country is on verge of losing control as Europe death toll passes 250k

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has said her country is on the verge of losing control of its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, telling colleagues from her Christian Democratic Union party “the situation is threatening” and “every day counts”.

In leaked comments to an internal party meeting, she told those attending of “very, very difficult months ahead” and added that “every day [would] count” in tackling the virus’s spread.

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Mexico admits Covid death toll much higher than official number

Disease now suspected of killing at least 139,153 people compared with official toll of 88,924

Mexico’s government has admitted its Covid-19 death toll is dramatically higher than official figures have suggested, with the disease now suspected of killing at least 139,153 people.

The official coronavirus death toll of Latin America’s second largest economy stands at 88,924 – the fourth highest number in the world after the US, Brazil and India. But on Sunday night officials conceded the true number of Covid-19 deaths was likely to be at least 50,000 higher.

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‘It’s the final blow’: businesses angry at Italy’s new Covid rules

Many firms may not last to see a promised ‘serene Christmas’, as pandemic bites across Europe

From ski resorts in the north to restaurants in the south, many Italians have been making their objections heard to the government’s latest measures to combat escalating coronavirus infections.

The prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, said the restrictions, which include the 6pm closure of bars and restaurants and complete closure of gyms, swimming pools, cinemas, theatres and ski stations, were needed so that people could enjoy a “serene Christmas”.

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Survey uncovers widespread belief in ‘dangerous’ Covid conspiracy theories

False claims that pandemic is a hoax or was started deliberately are attracting adherents around world

Significant numbers of people around the world believe Covid-19 was created deliberately, has killed far fewer people than reported, or is a hoax and does not actually exist, according to a global survey.

Along with belief in other conspiracy theories – such as that the world is run by a secret cabal – the YouGov-Cambridge Globalism Project, a survey of about 26,000 people in 25 countries designed in collaboration with the Guardian, found widespread and concerning scepticism about vaccine safety.

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‘Thrown to the wolves’: how Covid-19 laws are being used to silence garment workers

Campaigners report job losses and jailing of those airing grievances – and urge global fashion brands to stand up for workers’ rights

On the morning of 4 May, Zar Zar Tun, a Burmese garment worker, led a strike at a factory in the city of Yangon. Within 24 hours she was an inmate at Myanmar’s notorious Insein prison.

Zar Zar Tun, 31, was arrested outside the Blue Diamond bag factory in Dagon Seikkan, an industrial district of Yangon, where she and more than 100 other garment workers had been protesting over pay, working conditions and the right to strike.

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Coronavirus Australia live update: Daniel Andrews says ‘now is the time to open up’ after Victoria records no Covid cases

From midnight tomorrow night Melbourne businesses will be able to start reopening as restrictions ease. Follow all the latest updates

If I could shout you all one, I would.

Unfortunately, I don’t get paid that much.

the culture pic.twitter.com/mfUM4aFIFc

Daniel Andrews is asked if he would have done anything different in hindsight:

I don’t have hindsight. None of us do.

All we have his hard work and an absolute determination do not listen to the loudest voices, not be pushed to ignore the science, not listen to those who would appeal for us to act out of absolute frustration and nothing more than that.

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Coronavirus live news: China confirms 137 local cases as Spain enters state of emergency

Restrictions eased in Australian state of Victoria; WHO warns against ‘vaccine nationalism’; Israel to begin first vaccine clinical trials next month. Follow the latest updates

South Korea urged citizens to get vaccinated against influenza and reduce the chances of an outbreak that coincides with the battle against the coronavirus, as it kicked off free inoculations for the last eligible group, Reuters reports.

Public anxiety over the safety of flu vaccines has surged after at least 48 people died this month following vaccinations.

Authorities have said they found no direct link between the deaths and the flu shots and have sought to reassure South Koreans about the safety of the vaccines against flu, a disease that kills at least 3,000 each year.

However, last month, about 5 million doses had to be disposed of after not being stored at recommended temperatures.

Singapore has temporarily halted the use of two influenza vaccines as a precaution after these deaths, becoming among the first countries to publicly announce a halt of the vaccines’ usage. Singapore has reported no deaths linked to flu vaccinations.

India’s total coronavirus infections stood at 7.91 million on Monday, having risen by 45,148 cases in the last 24 hours, health ministry data showed.

The world’s second-most populous country also has the second-highest number of infections after the United States, which has around 8.1 million.

However, India recorded its lowest death toll in about four months on Monday with 480 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, taking total fatalities to 119,014.

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Senate votes on Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to supreme court – live

Voting has begun...

As McConnell continues his cynical, revisionist version of how we’ve ended up at this moment – awaiting the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett – the supreme court, one member short, is still working.

Just now, the court upheld a federal appeals court ruling that blocks a deadline extension for mail-in-ballots, awarding a victory for Republicans in a crusade against expanding voting rights and access.

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China: new coronavirus outbreak detected in Xinjiang city of Kashgar

Authorities test 2.84 million people after 137 asymptomatic cases found - the first local infections in China since 14 October

China has detected 137 new asymptomatic coronavirus cases in Kashgar in the north-western region of Xinjiang after one person was found to have the virus the previous day – the first new local cases for 10 days in mainland China.

All the cases detected on Sunday were linked to a garment factory where the parents of a 17-year-old girl who was found on Saturday to have the virus – but showed no symptoms – worked, a Xinjiang health commission official told a press briefing.

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Covid leaves 6m UK small businesses and 16m jobs in ‘precarious position’

Survey finds nearly two-thirds of entrepreneurs believe their business may not survive pandemic

An estimated 6m small businesses in the UK supporting 16.6m jobs are in a financially precarious position as a result of the pandemic, a London business school has warned.

Nearly two-thirds of entrepreneurs felt their business might not survive the pressures of Covid-19, while more than half predicted they would run out of money within the next 12 months, according to the new study from King’s Business School.

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White House chief of staff says ‘we’re not going to control pandemic’, after Pence staffers test positive – live

Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York state, is having a field day over the comments of the White House chief of staff Mark Meadows this morning. In a rare moment of transparency, Meadows admitted to a Sunday political talk show that the Trump administration had no intention of containing coronavirus, saying: “We’re not going to control the pandemic”.

Cuomo said that thinking was tantamount to giving in to the virus. “They surrendered without firing a shot. It was the great American surrender,” he said on Sunday, as reported by the Daily News.

After the Senate voted to move forward with the final vote to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, Mitch McConnell spoke on the Senate floor, celebrating the lasting influence of the vote for posterity.

“By tomorrow night, we’ll have a new member of the United States Supreme Court,” he told the chamber.

McConnell, just after the Senate votes to limit debate on Amy Coney Barrett: "A lot of what we’ve done over the last four years will be undone sooner or later by the next election. They won’t be able to do much about this for a long time to come."

Also, McConnell's right hand, which was deeply bruised earlier this week and prompted several Qs about his health, appears much better. Most of the bruising is gone https://t.co/WPFJcqsog2

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Hopes rise for approval of coronavirus vaccine by end of this year

US expert Dr Anthony Fauci says it should be known by early December if vaccine is safe to roll out

Hopes are rising that a coronavirus vaccine will be approved by the end of the year, with healthcare workers receiving their first dose in early 2021.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the US’s leading expert in infectious diseases, said on Sunday it should be known by the end of November or early December if a vaccine was safe and effective.

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Donald Trump not following science, says US medical chief Anthony Fauci – video

Chief medical expert Anthony Fauci says President Trump is not following the science in suggesting that he is now immune and could 'come down and start kissing everybody'. In an interview with the BBC's Andrew Marr, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the US tempers Trump’s claims that there will be a vaccine by the end of the year, noting that a rollout will take 'several months into 2021' and that early use will focus on vulnerable populations and healthcare workers

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Who in Europe is getting it right on Covid?

Different approaches are having notably different outcomes

A second coronavirus wave is sweeping continental Europe, with new infection records broken daily in many countries. There are wide variations, but almost no country has been left untouched – even those that fared well in the first wave.

Across the 31 countries from which the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control collects national data, the average 14-day case incidence rate per 100,000 inhabitants has multiplied from just 13 in mid-July to almost 250 last week.

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