Government advice issued on Sunday, allowing people who have been shielding to go outdoors, either alone, with their household, or at a two metre distance with one person from another household has received a mixed response from shielders in England and Wales, with many choosing to continue to follow the previous advice of total shielding.
DR UK’s Policy Lead, Fazilet Hadi, said: “Decisions need to be made by the people shielding and not by government. Government needs to provide the best possible evidence on societal risk. People shielding will also want to understand the level of personal risk to themselves, from their medical advisers. It is then their decision on what activity they can undertake at the same time as keeping safe.
“The new advice is in direct contravention of the advice issued in mid-May, which said that if the country remains at level 4 risk of the international Covid Alert System, lockdown needs to continue. The government has confirmed the country is still at level 4.
“It is imperative that going forward, the government gives people the choice to continue to shield if that is part of the best medical advice they are receiving as individuals from their healthcare professionals. The government has started to prepare the nation for a winding down of support services this autumn. This cannot be a blanket approach including those who still need to shield. Vital supply schemes for food and medicines, along with furlough, need to continue to be offered until such time as it is 100% safe for vulnerable people to resume normal life activities.”
The Scientific Advice Group for Emergencies (Sage) said in April that “lifting the policy of shielding the vulnerable would … lead to a sharp increase in hospitalisation, ICU admissions, and the death rates [for older people].”
Dr Nikita Kanani, NHS England’s Director of Primary Medical Care posted on Twitter suggesting she was unaware of the changes to guidance in advance of their publication. The Chairman of the National Care Association, Nadra Ahmed said: “This is inviting a virus back into the service that a lot of care homes have worked very hard to eradicate.”
The government said the new guidance was cleared by Deputy Chief Medical Officers and Public Health England after it had spoken with GPs, the British Medical Association and patient groups. Sage members were not asked to revisit the issue or submit new advice.
Read the government’s revised guidance here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19