No doubt many people in Exmouth have new routines and habits since March, with lockdown, self-isolation and shielding for those who were. New habits. Some good. Some perhaps less so.

Public Health England has been looking at the wider impacts of Covid-19. They're looking at smoking and drinking habits, physical activity, how people are spending their time and grocery purchasing behaviour, for example.

Some headlines so far:

Physical activity:

• Data from a few days in May shows more than a third of adults reported doing at least 30 minutes of physical activity on 5 or more days a week

• Around the same time parents or guardians reported that the percentage of children doing the recommended 60 minutes or more physical activity per day was around 23 per cent

• Compared with a typical weekend day before COVID-19, around 62 per cent of parents reported that their children were doing either the same or more physical activity

Alcohol:

• Between 10 May and 27 July (self-reported) mean weekly alcohol units consumed by adults were around the same, before and during lockdown. Most adults report drinking neither more nor less

• 18 to 34-year-olds were more likely to report drinking less alcohol each week than before lockdown; and 35 to 54-year-olds were most likely to report drinking more than they did before lockdown

Smoking:

• Between 15 April to 27 July, 46 per cent of smokers smoked about the same as they did prior to COVID-19; 21 per cent smoked less and 28 per cent smoked more

• But nearly 12 per cent of smokers reported trying to give up; and just more than 9 per cent reported started using e-cigarettes

• More than a quarter said that they'd be more likely to stop smoking now, than before lockdown

Wellbeing:

• The proportion of adults reporting high anxiety levels in the weeks prior and starting lockdown was around double the average for 2019. It's dropped a little but it's still well above 2019 levels

Grocery shopping:

• Grocery shopping for home is up. Purchasing of groceries is above levels for the same period last year

• Sweet home cooking has increased nearly 25 per cent; savoury home cooking increased by 27 per cent

The food categories which have shown the largest increase in volume in 2020 compared with 2019 are:

• Alcohol (an increase of 28.1% which is largely driven by an increase in beer and cider)
• Savoury home cooking (an increase of 27.0%)
• Sweet home cooking (an increase of 24.2%)
• Frozen meat (an increase of 21.2%)