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Updated 2 hours ago
After months without casual sex, Brits are preparing for a summer of love. That’s according to high street pharmacies, which are reporting a boom in lube and condom sales as lockdown restrictions ease.
Boots UK reports that sales of condoms have almost doubled since last year – with a massive 98% increase in sales. Searches on boots.com are also on the rise with 30% more searches for condoms and a 50% increase in searches for sex toys compared to last year.
Meanwhile Superdrug is predicting a “sexplosion” as lockdown restrictions further ease this summer.
The high street chain is currently seeing a 65% increase in online condom sales and a 232% increase in lube and toy sales online – plus a 44% year-on-year increase in the purchase of at-home STI tests and treatment.
Drink water before that morning coffee
Dr Nilu Ahmed, a behavioural psychologist at the University of Bristol, acknowledges how tempting it is to grab a coffee as soon as you wake up. But here’s a suggestion: glug a pint of water first, instead. “It helps flush out your system and keep your organs and joints healthy,” she says. “Drinking water has lots of known benefits including good skin and better mental performance.”
Go for a brisk walk – even if it’s around the block
In the morning, our circadian rhythm gradually moves towards daytime and gives our cells the green flag to get to action, says Lee Chambers, a wellbeing consultant. “When we go outside and the natural light shines into our cells, it triggers the release of serotonin, and suppresses melatonin, giving us a burst of energy and a boost in our mood,” he says. “The sensory experience of having the wind hit your cheeks, your feet strike the ground, and the sounds of the outdoors propel us forward, al
Rachel Moss and her partner in California.
In September 2019, my partner and I flew to Las Vegas, hired a car, and went on the ultimate road trip to Death Valley, Inyo National Forest, Yosemite, and San Francisco. We drove for hundreds of miles, across state lines, blissfully unaware that a few months later, we’d be told to stay home and only leave the house to exercise “locally”. That contrast still boggles my mind. We got engaged at the start of the trip, and if I’d known then how weddings would be disrupted – and how draining it is to postpone and replan – I probably would’ve sealed the deal in a Vegas chapel then and there.
LumiNola via Getty Images
Covid-19 has been the dark and stormy rain cloud hanging over us this past year, but as we ease out of lockdown, there are rays of light breaking through.
From data showing fewer deaths and hospitalisations from the virus, to experts suggesting normality is on the horizon, these are the slightly happier Covid news stories to read with your morning brew.
Related.
1. Almost 12,000 deaths have been prevented by Covid jabs
The NHS’s Covid-19 vaccination efforts have prevented 11,700 deaths in those aged 60 and older in England up to the end of April, according to analysis by Public Health England (PHE). The jab has also prevented at least 33,000 hospitalisations in those aged 65 and older in England in the same period.