Hairdresser cuts holes in umbrella as coronavirus barrier
And other stories from the stranger side of life

A hairdresser has cut holes in an umbrella for arms and eyes to use as a barrier between clients during the coronavirus pandemic. The imaginative Dutch stylist then cut an additional hole in her makeshift protective suit to thread a customer's eyebrows. As a photo of the set-up went viral on Facebook, one user commented: “Bunch of lunatics.”
Surge in demand for sex toys
There has been a surge in demand for sex toys in Britain during the coronavirus pandemic. Sales of the toys have soared by 13% in the UK, according to statistics from adult brand Womaniser. Overseas, the surge has been even higher: Canada has seen an 135% increase in sex toy sales and sales in Italy are up 71%.
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California says don't flush t-shirts
Officials in California are warning people to be beware of what they flush. After sales of toilet paper jumped about 213 per cent, people have started using shredded T-shirts in place of toilet paper, causing a sewer backup. Officials said that if people use anything in the bathroom other than toilet paper, they should: “Bag it. Don't flush it.”
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Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.
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