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Covid

Being 'vulnerable' does not make you part of the 'Shielded' group - if you're confused, see below

265 replies

Clymene · 02/04/2020 21:30

At the start of the outbreak, many people were told they were in the vulnerable category. This includes people with asthma, pregnant women, the morbidly obese and people with MS and diabetes.

The full list is here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people/guidance-on-social-distancing-for-everyone-in-the-uk-and-protecting-older-people-and-vulnerable-adults

These people should be very careful with social distancing, ideally for 12 weeks.

The shielded group are people who are extremely vulnerable. They have been identified by the NHS and should not leave the house. These are people with cancer, organ transplants, cystic fibrosis and other serious conditions. This is why they have been issued with food parcels by the government. A full list of these people is here:

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

You cannot self-define as shielded. If you are vulnerable, take precautions. Use your local resources. But remember there are people who are much more vulnerable than you.

If you do not fall into either of these groups, please leave the resources to keep the vulnerable safe and well. Not only to protect them, but to protect all of us. Not to put too fine a point on it, but if the vulnerable clog up all the beds, there won't be any space for the outliers who randomly get very ill.

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OtherVoices · 02/04/2020 21:38

Not to put too fine a point on it, but if the vulnerable clog up all the beds, there won't be any space for the outliers who randomly get very ill.

Explain to me.

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MitziK · 02/04/2020 21:42

I think it means 'If you're standard risk/healthy and take the piss by claiming vulnerability/people to do the shopping for you/internet shopping slots, the sheer numbers of vulnerable people you'll be fucking over that can't get those measures because you've had them will end up in hospital and if your standard risk turns out to be life threatening illness, you'll be the one regretting it because there won't be a bed for you'.

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Clymene · 02/04/2020 21:44

OtherVoices - the reason why we're self-isolating is to stop the spread of the virus. The reason those who are more vulnerable are being asked to take added precautions is because if they get it, they're more likely to be ill. If we can protect them to a degree (or at least manage their infection so it happens by small degrees rather than all at once), there is a chance the NHS will cope.

If the 1.5 million shielded people carry on as normal, they will all get enormously ill, and we will go under.

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HairyHoraceHaggis · 02/04/2020 21:44

I’m in the shielded group (and it does apply to many asthmatics btw, depending on the inhaler type and dose, with other factors taken into account).

Re: food parcels - people only need to register for them if they do not have other support through friends and family to drop off.

I am also puzzled by the bit about “taking up beds” Hmm

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Barbie222 · 02/04/2020 21:45

Clogging up isn't a great term, because if you need ICU you need ICU regardless of how vulnerable you were to start with, and thankfully we are not yet at the point of making choices about who gets to use the ventilators.

I expect you mean access to food delivery parcels and delivery slots? I don't think you would be able to make up that you had a condition on the shielding list if you don't.

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HairyHoraceHaggis · 02/04/2020 21:46

And why have you taken it upon yourself to tell shielded people not to carry on as normal?

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Clymene · 02/04/2020 21:47

And what MitziK said.

Those of us who are fit and well should go to the shops. Yes, it's frightening, but we need to put on our big girl pants, take sensible precautions and leave the deliveries to the vulnerable. Shopping delivery is not a nice to have, it's an emergency service right now.

Because if we don't, we're putting more people at risk.

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Clymene · 02/04/2020 21:51

I haven't 'taken it upon myself' @HairyHoraceHaggis. That's the government guidance.

The reason I started this thread is because I think the government advice has been really confusing. They started out listing a group of people who they said were vulnerable (category 2) and then they developed a second list of people who were really, really vulnerable (category 1).

But they didn't tell the people who fall into category two that they didn't meet the category one criteria.

So lots of people are expecting some kind of letter or something when they won't get one. And there is bugger all support or help for them.

Which is why I think we need to help them by freeing up resources.

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Butterer · 02/04/2020 21:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Wingedharpy · 02/04/2020 21:57

And, even if you are on the "shielding" list - I am - the guidance does say that others who live with you don't need to shield as well (unless they're on the list too obvs), providing they stringently adhere to the social distancing guidelines.

I appreciate that everyones circumstances are different, but I agree OP, don't use anything (goods or services) you don't need otherwise, it may not be there when you do.

Only you know if you NEED something as opposed to WANT.

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0hT00dles · 02/04/2020 22:02

My df hasn't left the house since we went into lockdown in ireland - before that, we told him to try and get out for a walk in anticipation of lockdown. He has heart and kidney failure and diabetes but not on the 'cocoon' list in ireland. Bur he's cocooning. So is my mum.

So sick of people complaining they've been told to cocoon.

I see so many elderly in the shops/out walking.

Please just heed the advice

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0hT00dles · 02/04/2020 22:03

Oh and my brother and I shop for them! We pick up what they need.

Works well. I even got them hand sanitizer

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LonginesPrime · 02/04/2020 22:08

Yes, it's frightening, but we need to put on our big girl pants

Hmm

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Wingedharpy · 02/04/2020 22:09

To be fair, some of us just look old rather than are old😥

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PlanDeRaccordement · 02/04/2020 22:11

This is disturbing, but the British Medical Assoc (BMA) has just published ethical guidance on how doctors are to choose who lives and who dies. To me, it reads that the elderly and disabled will be denied ICU beds in favour of the young and abled. Especially if your disability is a co-morbidity for CORVID-19, which are vulnerabilitirs like asthma, diabetes, heart disease,.etc.

“What criteria should be used when making these treatment allocation decisions?
During the peak of the pandemic, it is possible that doctors may be required to assess a person’s eligibility for treatment based on a ‘capacity to benefit quickly’ basis. As such, doctors may be called on to deny some of the most unwell patients access to life-sustaining treatment such as cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, intensive care or artificial ventilation. To ensure maximum benefit from admission to intensive care, it will be necessary to adopt a threshold for admission to intensive care or use of scarce intensive treatments such as mechanical ventilation or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Such decisions should be made using local policies and guidance. Relevant factors predicting survival from COVID-19 include severity of acute illness, presence and severity of co-morbidity and, to the extent that it is a clinically reliable indicator, patient age Those patients whose probability of dying, or of requiring a prolonged duration of intensive support, exceeds a threshold level would not be considered for intensive treatment, though of course they should still receive other forms of medical care. These decisions must be made on the best available clinical evidence, including clinical triage advice from appropriate clinical bodies.”

“During the peak of a pandemic, doctors are likely to be required to assess a person’s eligibility for treatment based on a ‘capacity to benefit quickly’ basis. As such, some of the most unwell patients may be denied access to treatment such as intensive care or artificial ventilation. This will inevitably be indirectly discriminatory against both the elderly and those with long-term health conditions relevant to their ability to benefit quickly, with the latter being denied access to life-saving treatment as a result of their pre-existing health problems

www.bma.org.uk/media/2219/bma-covid-19-long-form-faqs.pdf

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Helenshielding · 02/04/2020 22:13

I dont understand your final sentence.

But, I agree, the government has confused people with their use of the word vulnerable. If you havent got a letter and you thought you would, check with your GP. If you're not shielding dont use resources aimed at people who literally cant leave the house.

People shouldnt have to be told this though....

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Butterer · 02/04/2020 22:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SquashedFlyBiscuit · 02/04/2020 22:19

We are full on shielding as asthma uk originally had us in that group dewpite lack of letter.

As link above says I may not get a ventilator if it came to it . I also have high bmi so the two together mean my outlook may not be good. When I spoke to gp/asthma nurse/counsellor I've mentioned were doing this and they all think its a good idea tbh.

I don't think its your place to tell vulnerable people (clues in the name) to put themselvws at risk.

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thegreylady · 02/04/2020 22:20

My dh is nearly 84, he has prostate cancer, type 2 diabetes, colitis and has had a heart attack (not recent). He is vulnerable not ‘shielded’. I am 76, asthmatic and a cancer survivor so also classed as vulnerable.
We are choosing to isolate for now. We would have little chance of survival if infected. We aren’t asking for any special privileges. We have had home deliveries while most shops are shut and our family and friends are leaving shopping outside. We plan to give it a total of 3 weeks the be careful with distancing etc but as we aren’t allowed to drive we can’t go anywhere anyway.

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Helenshielding · 02/04/2020 22:23

I'm not sure if I should guilty about having been able to get a weekly shop delivered?

Not at all, use what is available. I assume OP is referring to the specific resources available for those who are shielding.

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Flowersforpowers · 02/04/2020 22:28

I do agree that people are confused about what different groups should be doing. I see it a lot on pregnancy groups - women thinking they've been told to shield and are then confused when their employer expects them to work. You can't declare yourself in to the shielded category in terms of work/support, but you certainly can choose to shield if you have the suitable support network.

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justanotherneighinparadise · 02/04/2020 22:29

My understanding is the likelihood of recovering once ventilated is around 20-30%. So it makes sense to give priority to those who would most likely recover.

With that in mind the advice is to shield if you fall into the ‘extremely vulnerable’ category and isolate if you are vulnerable. The idea is that once the peak is over you are more likely to have access to the breathing apparatus you may need.

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Burpeesshmurpees · 02/04/2020 22:31

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Clymene · 02/04/2020 22:32

@Helenshielding - my last sentence is for all the people who are scared to go out because they have young children, or they live far from a shop or their husband works long hours. These are all reasons I've seen on here as to why those people need to have their shopping delivered.

My point is that they need to protect the very vulnerable - not just for the sake of the vulnerable but for their own self-interest.

@PlanDeRaccordement - that scares the bejeezus out of me. I'm not in the shielded category but those I love are which is why I'm trying to protect them so fiercely.

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Wingedharpy · 02/04/2020 22:50

The difficulty is, Burpees, as with everything like this, any sort of official rule, the line has to be drawn somewhere.

Those nearest to the "wrong side" of the line, miss out the most.

I'm hopeful, that once they've sorted out the shielders, they'll they move to extending the help to the "very vulnerable".

As a shielder, providing my DH stays well, I don't need any help, which is why I say, don't take something if you don't need it.

A household where all the occupants are extremely vulnerable will be worse off than ours, with 1 extremely vulnerable occupant and 1 reasonably well old soul.

If my well old soul goes down, I'm stuffed.!

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