Safety: Police warn of sex heightened sex threat to children online

British police have said there were at least 300,000 people in the country who posed a sex threat to children, warning that there could be a spike in online offences during the coronavirus lockdown.

With schools across the country almost entirely closed and children increasingly using web-based educational resources, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said it knew from online chat that offenders were discussing opportunities to abuse children.

The police said their assessment of the risk was based on intelligence which predates the outbreak of the virus, and that the 300,000 individuals posed a threat either directly or online. 

Officers said they were urging parents and carers to ensure children were aware of online risks and were launching a campaign to reinforce safety messages, saying child sex abuse content could be found on the open web in just three clicks. 

Rob Jones, the NCA’s director of threat leadership, said they also wanted tech companies to do more. “Preventing offences occurring is always crucial and now more so than ever when there is masses of online traffic and a possible elevated threat to children,” he said. [Reuters]

Survival: Why more rats are being spotted during quarantine

The closure of restaurants and the retreat by humans indoors is having an effect on the eating habits and behaviour of rats, say experts.

Humans around the world are changing their behaviours due to the threat of the coronavirus pandemic.

There are fewer overflowing trash receptacles amid social isolation measures. In some places, quarantine means rubbish that rats depend on is no longer available, and so they also adapt.

In the UK, the National Pest Technicians Association warned this month that “the closure of schools, pubs, restaurants, hotels, tourist attractions and other public places to enforce social distancing will have unintended consequences”.

If there is food available, pest populations could thrive in empty buildings and become emboldened by the absence of people - or pests will go out in search of food, it said.

Rats are “formidable mammals” very good at sniffing out sources of food, and their powerful teeth can make short work of a barriers like doors, plastics, or fabrics.

But seeing more rats around doesn’t mean cities will be overrun. Urban rodentologist Robert Corrigan says that “sanitation is pest control” - without food, the rats “turn on themselves and they will control their own numbers”.

Cannibalism is very pervasive in stressed colonies. 

Wandering, hungry rats can still wreak havoc, causing damage in homes and spreading disease. Rats are “officially associated with about 55 different pathogens”, though there have been no reports of rats carrying Covid-19.

They can also gnaw through wood and electrical wires - a danger for house fires.