THE VIRUS IN BRIEF
BORIS Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings is the latest Government figure suspected to have Covid-19. The PM’s spokesman said: “Dom is not in Number 10. He is self-isolating after developing symptoms over the weekend.”
Asked if the 48-year-old had been tested, he said: “I wouldn’t expect that to be the case.” The top aide was last seen shortly after Mr Johnson posted a video on Friday announcing he had tested positive.
Health Secretary Nadine Dorries blasted “churlish” Lefties who joked about Mr Cummings on social media.
TV sales have soared by 60 per cent compared with last year. But shoppers are opting for basic models over more expensive sets, data suggests, with smaller screen sizes of 42in or less selling particularly well.
DVD and Blu-Ray use rose from five per cent to 11 per cent. Meanwhile, Sky Sports viewings dropped by 24 per cent, as live games were cancelled to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Kelly Whitwick, market insights expert at GfK, said: “People are facing having their entire household at home every day, possibly with the need to keep distance from each other, and almost certainly with very different views on what they want to watch – so they are quickly buying an extra TV to spread out around the house.”
WILDLIFE presenter Kate Humble reckons the pandemic will help people rediscover practical skills as everyday conveniences are more difficult to access. The 51-yearold former Londoner, who is isolating at her Monmouthshire smallholding, also predicts an exodus of citydwellers moving to the countryside as they get a taste for a slower-paced life. She told Radio Times magazine: “What convenience does is rob us of all the things that make us happy. We don’t grow things any more, we don’t fix things any more. I think there’ll be a lot of rebalancing.”
COSTUME designers from some of Britain’s top TV dramas have come together to make hospital scrubs for NHS staff fighting coronavirus.
The team – including some from His Dark Materials and Downton Abbey – have used industry contacts to buy around 2,000 feet of fabric to run up uniforms from their homes.
The project has the acronym HDM, first used for the BBC’s Philip Pullman fantasy hit but which now means Helping Dress Medics. More than 170 people have donated money to buy material since the group’s GoFundMe page launched at the weekend.
Costume supervisor Dulcie Scott said: “We are liaising with hospital staff directly in the areas we live and taking advice from them about what they need.”