Lost your get up and go? Here’s how to get it back

After a lifetime of loving exercise, Martin Love lost his motivation. But where had it gone? And could he get it back? Plus, five experts on how to maintain your mojo

On my parents’ mantelpiece, among the pictures of smiling grandchildren, lopsided graduation hats, old sports cars and a young soldier in smart uniform, is a picture of heroic athletic endeavour. In a little silver frame is a small blond boy in a white vest straining every sinew as he belts around the corner of a grassy athletic field, the parallel lines of the track marked out in white chalk stretching into the distance. He seems to be so far ahead of the pack that he’s almost on his own. He’s a champion in the making! Is the podium ready? Is that the music from Chariots of Fire you can hear?

The sad truth is that the little boy is me and I was so far off the pace everyone else that my dad was able to step out on the track to take the picture. “You were miles behind. It was almost as if you were running in slow motion,” he says now, with a laugh.

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Covid live: England reports another record rise in cases; UAE to ban non-vaccinated from travelling abroad

England records 162,572 cases and 154 deaths; fully vaccinated would also require booster shot

Russia has reported 847 deaths from Covid in the past 24 hours. It also reported 19,751 new coronavirus cases in the same time period, up from 20,638 on the previous day.

The NHS Confederation’s chief executive, Matthew Taylor, agreed with the health secretary the record-breaking Omicron wave of infection will “test the limits of finite NHS capacity even more than a typical winter”, with reports suggesting that a requirement to work from home in England could be in place for most of January.

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Grief, needle phobia, lack of trust: why we refused Covid jabs – and what changed our minds

Three former refuseniks reveal their misgivings about having the vaccination and what finally convinced them to take the plunge

The UK’s vaccine rollout has largely been a success: more than 90% of the population aged 12 and over has now had at least one dose, with just over half having had a second dose and the booster.

However, there are thousands of people who still haven’t had a jab, despite estimates suggesting that 90% of the most severely ill Covid patients in hospital at the moment are unvaccinated.

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Ditching the diet – how I learned to accept the body I have

A lifetime of hating my body has got me nowhere. If I can’t love it, can I at least respect it?

Every January, the same old battle cry: this will be the year that I get thin. Last January, I did a week-long juice cleanse, and the year before that, I fasted for three days. It wasn’t quite nil by mouth, but almost. At the time, I told myself the science interested me (the fervour with which fasting evangelists assure you that a few days without food can reset your microbiome or stave off cellular ageing is compelling enough to make you ignore the health warnings). Really, though, what I wanted was rapid weight loss, minimum one dress size.

I made it to 81 hours. Practically levitating with hunger, I ignored the advice to reintroduce food slowly (soups and juices before solids) by bingeing on a cheese sandwich, which I promptly threw up. Happy new year to me.

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Further Covid restrictions in England would be ‘last resort’, says Sajid Javid

Health secretary acknowledges at same time that there will be ‘big increase’ in number of Covid patients over next month

New restrictions on freedom in England “must be an absolute last resort”, the health secretary has said.

The record-breaking wave of the Omicron Covid variant will, however, “test the limits of finite NHS capacity even more than a typical winter”, Sajid Javid said, as hospital admissions in England climbed to their highest since last January.

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I’m a UK Covid scientist. Here’s a sample of the abuse in my inbox

Messages may contain unhinged expletives, threatening tropes … or one of my interviews set to music

“You scaremongering ignorant fucking cunt, you and your retarded team made predictions that could have fucked this country for billions of pounds, fucked Christmas for a second time and cost thousands thier [sic] jobs only to have your most pessimistic ballshit [sic] now found to be just that. How fucks like you can sleep at night is beyond me and I hope you are fucking held to account for what you have done and could have done if there weren’t some people in the government with a brain.”

How would you like to get this in your inbox? As a senior scientist advising the government on Covid, I get this sort of email on a fairly regular basis. Indeed, (someone calling himself) Mr Roberts (who sent this) is a regular offender. What particularly upset me about this email was that it wasn’t sent to me, but to a junior member of my team. Awful, isn’t it?

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UK government’s Covid advisers enduring ‘tidal waves of abuse’

Exclusive: Guardian survey shows level of intimidation, including death threats, against scientific and medical advisers

The “appalling” scale of abuse, intimidation and threatening behaviour directed at the UK government’s scientific and medical advisers has been laid bare in a Guardian survey of experts working on the pandemic.

Dozens of UK advisers described incidents ranging from coordinated online attacks to death threats and acts of intimidation, such as photos being taken of their homes and shared online and suspicious packages arriving in the post, some containing items with messages scrawled on them.

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We can vaccinate 70% of the world against Covid by mid-2022. Here’s how

The WHO’s vaccination goal is achievable – but it will take proper funding, better vaccine distribution and jabs with longer shelf lives

While western countries scramble with their booster rollout to deal with the Omicron wave, only 8.4% of people in low-income countries have had at least one Covid vaccination dose.

The gap in the vaccination rates between high- and low-income countries is wider than ever. We cannot keep turning a blind eye to it.

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Death of young woman after FGM revives calls for ban in Sierra Leone

Maseray Sei, 21, was found dead after undergoing the procedure in a centuries-old ritual carried out by a secret society for women

The death of a young woman in Sierra Leone, almost immediately after undergoing female genital mutilation, has sparked outrage and revived calls to end the practice.

The body of 21-year-old Maseray Sei was found on 20 December at Nyandeni village in Bonthe district, southern Sierra Leone, a day after the FGM took place. Sei’s family said that after the procedure the mother of two boys complained of a migraine and was in pain, with complications from FGM thought to be the cause, according to activists working on the case.

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Australia news live update: national cabinet agrees on new definition of ‘close contact’ as more than 21,000 Covid cases recorded nationwide

Victoria’s case numbers have also come in and 5,137 new Covid-19 infections have been detected. That’s quite a jump from 3,767 yesterday.

Sadly, 13 lives have been lost overnight.

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When did I decide to stop living in denial? While lying on a plane gangway during a panic attack

I had refused to accept my PTSD had returned. But on a flight to Budapest it became impossible to ignore

It is hard to pinpoint the worst moment of your life. But when I think about my lowest ebb, a certain image begins to solidify: me, lying in the gangway of a plane, the cabin crew administering oxygen via a canister and a mask as we descend to Budapest airport and other passengers look on (bemused or horrified, I couldn’t say). A couple of minutes previously, a fog had descended on me as I sat in the seat next to my boyfriend; peculiar black clouds coalesced at the margins of my vision. I was passing out. “I need to lie down,” I said, with some urgency. “I need to lie down, now.”

Why does this image stand out? I suppose it is because, ultimately, it is about denial – and the point at which that stops being possible. The thing I didn’t want to know was that I was ill. Again. I had no business being on a plane. I had only been able to get on the plane at all as a result of the large white wine and two co-codamol tablets I had necked at the airport. It was no doubt the chemical effects of these that led to me almost blacking out. That and the fact I had been hyperventilating for the duration of the flight.

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OzSage experts warn ‘let it rip’ Covid strategy will condemn vulnerable Australians to death

Sheer scale of cases means the impact on an already fatigued health system ‘could be enormous’, report says

Australia’s independent expert group OzSage has savaged the “let it rip” Covid-19 strategy in New South Wales and elsewhere, saying it will condemn some people to death, particularly the more vulnerable.

In a report released on Thursday, OzSage said the trajectory of Covid data suggested hospital admission and intensive care unit occupancy numbers were “on a steeply rising trend and anticipated to exceed earlier peaks quite soon. In other words, optimistic assumptions about the impact of the Omicron variant on hospital admissions are unrealistic.”

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Rapid antigen tests double in price in Australia amid concerns of price-gouging

Reports cost of RAT kits soaring as federal government considers calling in consumer watchdog

Any official crackdown on price-gouging of rapid antigen tests in Australia is unlikely, despite government suggestions it will get the consumer watchdog involved amid reports the kits have doubled in price as stock disappears from shelves.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has previously noted “price gouging is generally not illegal”, meaning its ability to respond is likely to be limited unless specific circumstances are involved.

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Covid vaccinations lag among pregnant Americans amid surge in cases

Three in five pregnant Americans have no vaccine protection as experts say it is ‘one of the most important things you can do’

For many people, the thin red line on a pregnancy test ushers in countless changes. You change what you eat and drink, how you exercise and socialize and sleep, and keep careful track of what medications you should and shouldn’t take.

But for many Americans, there’s one choice they largely haven’t made: getting vaccinated.

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Up to 90% of Covid patients in ICU are unboosted, says Boris Johnson

Prime minister urges people to get third jab during visit to a vaccination centre in Milton Keynes

Boris Johnson has urged people to get their booster vaccine as he said up to 90% of those in intensive care had not had their third Covid jabs.

On a visit to a vaccine centre in Milton Keynes, the prime minister said people should enjoy their new year celebrations while taking extra precautions such as ventilation and testing, and he urged people to take up the offer of a third dose.

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Fatigue is an oppressive cocoon. It has made me seek joy wherever I can

I have not ‘overcome’ anything, but I am happy and hopeful. Chronic illness is sometimes described as a form of grief, but I prefer to think of it as beginning the next stage

Four years ago, I caught the flu – and I am still stuck in bed, struggling to breathe. A bit like those with long Covid now, I developed postviral fatigue after a short illness. You could say I was into viruses before their mainstream second album.

Born with a muscle weakness, I was already familiar with the fragility of the human body. But the overnight change, post‑flu complications, hit me like a truck. In the early days, stuck on a ventilator and barely able to move, my brain was so traumatised that I thought my bedroom curtains were on fire. I didn’t even have curtains.

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Australia Covid news live update: NSW records 11,201 cases, Victoria 3,767; states consider shorter isolation time; Qld to change border testing requirements

NSW records three Covid-19 deaths as cases spiral; Queensland to allow rapid antigen test to cross border; chief health officers are reportedly considering cutting isolation periods to match the US and UK. Follow all the latest updates

NSW cases have jumped again, significantly this time, recording 11,201 cases today. Its the highest ever tally recorded by a state in a single day, and the first time a state has recorded over 10,000 cases in a day.

Sadly, three people have lost their lives overnight.

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What to do about the UK’s unvaccinated? No 10’s Covid dilemma

Analysis: growing frustration at vaccine refusers has crept into ministers’ speeches recently

A growing sense of frustration with people who have not been vaccinated against Covid has been creeping into the speeches of senior government figures from Sajid Javid to Boris Johnson in recent weeks.

The health secretary has accused those who have chosen not to take up the offer of free vaccination of taking up hospital beds, damaging society and potentially harming their families as well as themselves.

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NSW scales back Covid contact tracing as health system faces Omicron strain

Authorities to focus on high-risk groups as Dominic Perrottet admits health staff are at point of exhaustion

The New South Wales government’s Covid contact-tracing system has been all but abandoned, with efforts now focused only on those in the highest risk categories.

NSW Health authorities are under increasing strain as the Covid Omicron variant pushes up hospital admissions, while its virulence means contact tracers have all but given up tracking its spread in the wider community.

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Omicron is ‘not the same disease’ as earlier Covid waves, says UK scientist

Sir John Bell says disease ‘appears less severe’ as other scientists criticise lack of new restrictions in England

Omicron is “not the same disease we were seeing a year ago” and high Covid death rates in the UK are “now history”, a leading immunologist has said.

Sir John Bell, regius professor of medicine at Oxford University and the government’s life sciences adviser, said that although hospital admissions had increased in recent weeks as Omicron spreads through the population, the disease “appears to be less severe and many people spend a relatively short time in hospital”. Fewer patients were needing high-flow oxygen and the average length of stay was down to three days, he said.

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