I know several on the shielded list who have now received additional letters from the government telling them that they are required to shield for an additional twelve weeks after the first twelve week shielding period expires.So that leaves the vulnerable shielding until September at the earliest,and I can only imagine this will increase as time goes on.
Now,in principle I can see why this is the advice,after all with no vaccine or proven treatment yet the vulnerable are still going to be at the greatest risk, but while when everyone was in lockdown everyone had to be taken into account re work etc,once lockdown starts to ease, employers are rightly going to be expecting people to go back to work,and realistically how is that going to affect someone who is shielded for the foreseeable future? Are employers, who are already looking at lost revenue, going to take that into account?
And people like me who are currently looking for work, does that mean I have to stay unemployed for the foreseeable as well?
I’ve seen a lot of posts on here from people saying that the shielded are selfish if they go out because they know they’re at greater risk so if they choose to go out then they’d be taking up a valuable bed if they get sick.
I can only foresee that this is going to make the divide between the disabled and the non disabled in this country bigger than it already is.