Boris and The Shielded

[AustBron]

So last night after another worrying poll result for Boris, they decide to announce that from Monday the shielded group of which I am one, will be allowed some freedom to meet family outside at a social distance, that further information will be outlined today, and that we, the shielded, will now be given regular updates.

Well now how grateful should I be that this decision has been made to coincide with the government easing lock down restrictions too early and too fast, purely to deflect attention from their atrocious handling of the Dominic Cummings arrogant ignoring of the rules HE had a hand in forming?

Judging by the thousands gathering on beaches, blocking roads, and over running beauty spots there will be a major leap in the infection rate within the next month - so yes you idiots, this is JUST the right time to announce that the shielded should relax their vigilance - said no scientist ever!

And are we supposed to feel grateful for the promise to give us regular updates from now on? Shouldn't we have been included in these all along? Most of us feel completely forgotten and excluded from any plan for moving forwards into recovery .

By staying almost silent on the subject of shielding, other than brief mentions that we are being helped with information via letter and text, we have been badly treated all the way along. And how supportive is it actually to receive patronising texts to tell you to find a nice window to sit by and learn how to play suduko? Another factor arising from being left out of the daily briefing is that some of the none shielded population have come to the conclusion that they are in lockdown BECAUSE of us, when in reality, the shielding was to keep us out of hospitals so that the NHS had chance to treat those who have a better chance of survival than we do. Shielding wasn't meant to save the shielded, it was meant to save the NHS, and now we are to be thrown on the bonfire until the NHS gets overwhelmed, used as another smokescreen for the Government to try and snatch back some support from a population reeling at their inadequate handling of everything.

Don't think I don't want to go out, I do, I want my life back. But I also want to stay alive when I do go out. Boris however apparently doesn't seem to think that might be an issue.

Utterly disgusting.

He's just playing to the crowd. FAR too much easing FAR too soon

But this 'allowed' message will hurt a lot of people. Many shielding are generally 'well' people day to day, with full, busy, often working lives who can make their own choices and don't need 'permission' to go for a walk!

However, there are a lot of vulnerable shielded who have only been kept safe because they rules say they can't go out' it's now going to be much harder to keep them safe. I'm thinking the elderly who are more frail than they realise, teenagers, people with SEN/LD, men people who feel invincible.

I hope the vast majority listen to the scientists not the clown 🤡

I am so disappointed how this whole pandemic has been mishandled but the ridiculous behaviour re lifting has been absolutely shocking.

@BillBaileysBum

(1) We need employment laws changed - many people who are shielding are not covered by the Equality Act so we are a bit fucked in that sense. The Government are relying on our employers being reasonable. Can tell you that my employer is not reasonable when it comes to my illness - they see it as a burden, even though they admit I do more than my workload, make up for all time off and don't request anything back in return.

(2) GPs and Consultants should have made the call on who goes on the list. Thankfully my GP did make that call for me.

(3) Food boxes etc. should have been prioritised to those who are on the list who simply cannot afford food (because they are already on extremely low incomes, or because they've lost work due to shielding).

(4) Protection for phone calls - I have had what I think was a scam and they claimed to be from the shielding phone line. I've also had a scam text as well. Our data should have been better protected and those who are making phone calls should have had a method to ensure the shielder knew they were talking to an official person.

(5) Not to have been ignored for the last 9 weeks - no mention.

(6) Not to have Boris Johnson tell us that he knows what we are going through - no he bloody doesn't. A very careful use of language, we're stressed and vulnerable and we have someone who has managed to work, had contact with his family, been outside exercising, walked his dog etc. tell us he's in the same position (I am very sorry he had Covid, I would not wish it on anyone).

(7) The whole DNR list thing was absolutely diabolical.

(8) Back to the language thing but the texts. Oh my God the texts - they are the most depressing thing ever and my one on Thursday told me (and I have been officially shielded since day 1) that I needed to get a neighbour to take out the bins. 10 weeks too late I am afraid...

(9) More support for GP practices and Mental Health teams who are dealing with people who are isolated - much more support. And also for the charities.

(10) I've just been told by a GP friend that they had no idea the Government was making the announcement regarding the changes in shielding - it's a Sunday and they already have 200 emails in their practice inbox. Stuff like that is just shit.

@ Fairenuff and what if a vaccine is never found? What then?

people who are vulnerable need to take responsibility for themselves regardless of the situation that we’re in.

When it is flu season I stay away from people with flu symptoms, if my DP gets a cold he doesn’t come to see me (we don’t live together), from that point of view COVID is no different.

The fact is that even if there is a vaccine people who are vulnerable will still catch COVID, or flu, or pneumonia, or any other condition for which there is a vaccine, and people will still die from it.

People who are vulnerable need to add this as a list of illnesses which they will be particularly vulnerable to, not separate this from all the others.

By suggesting that people should shield until a vaccine is found do you propose that those people not be able to work? Indeed that they be medically retired if they’re currently working? That all those people should be placed on ESA? For how long? The next year? Two? Ten?

It can be hard to think that everyone needs to move forward at some point, but they do.

@ DragonTrainedByLucy I’m not the only one. Friend who is in end stage renal failure was also told, along with everyone on the dialysis unit she is on that they should shield until a vaccine is found. Some were sent letters and others weren’t. Some on the unit have contracted COVID and have died.

Some received letters saying they should shield for a further twelve weeks after the initial period.

And no I didn’t say that being on the list meant that you got the help that you needed, I said that it was the theory behind the list, but because the list is such a farce anyway that theory doesn’t hold up.

@AlternativePerspective I agree the waiting for the vaccine response is poor - how do you stay away from people with flu symptoms?

I cracked the shit on this just before lockdown because a colleague came into work with a fever and a cough, sat in meetings with me (I did not know), asked people not to mention it to me and put other vulnerable people at risk.

We have had emails from work since January asking us to not come in with a fever or a cough.

Normal flu season, my colleagues all come in with it - then I get in shit for ending up in intensive care for a week because "how could I know I got it from work and not on public transport". Drives me up the wall.

@Fairenuff well for a start they could not make crazy pronouncements on a saturday night.

Not all shielded people are able to interpret risk, or look after their own health. We are reliant on science and information - given the sheer amount of media madness, it's understandable people want official guidance. Of course the government should be involved.

Will we just tell the furloughed to be responsible for themselves?

what if a vaccine is never found? What then?

Exactly. What then? The government can't make it go away.

Some received letters saying they should shield for a further twelve weeks after the initial period.

No, this did not happen. There has been so much confusion about these letters but the second one didnt reset, it was just badly worded. I got one too, but it was fairly obvious what it meant, unfortunately it caused a lot of confusion.

Read the room @RobBBCNews

@Judiwench Yes, that absolutely did happen. There have been multiple letters all saying different things.

My third letter stated I reset the twelve week period (and was fairly recent). The wording was pretty clear. I thought it was because there had been a change in my medication which would make me more vulnerable.

@RobBBCNews I think meeting new grandchildren is the least of people's worries at the moment assuming they are on the shielding list and their grandchild is safe and well.

I'd be interested to see the letters - given the government is still saying 30 June or late June for Scotland it seems unlikely anyone has actually had things reset. I had the second letter and whilst it was poorly worded, could clearly see nothing was being reset.

@Judiwench - pretty sure they've been posted on previous threads (think it was the Shielding one in Chat). I was not the only one who had them and who had confirmation it was a reset...

Exactly. What then? The government can't make it go away.

Then start a dialogue with those who are shielding to see which things are possible and which things are useful and to whom within the group. They could start by guaranteeing school places for x amount of time to offer some peace of mind, for instance. They could start talking about how the shielded might get access to safe medical and dental care and conditions under which that might happen. They could start talking about their own decisions and assumptions about the long game for the shielded so we can make informed decisions. Mostly, I'd like to be within the public discourse about coronavirus and not an inconvenient afterthought.

It is such a mess. I am seriously worried about going back to work. I am immune suppressed and have severe asthma. I have ended up in hospital from a cold as I couldn't breathe. My consultant and doctor have agreed that I am really high risk on two counts. It took forever for me to get a letter.

Every job I have been in people are pressured to come in when unwell. My job is also public facing so I was always catching everything, even with precautions. I would also need to use public transport due to my chronic condition - I can't walk or cycle.

My family, husband and doctor don't want me to go back, but we can't afford for me not to work as I am the higher earner. We are still in lockdown here thankfully.

I think this has been terribly handled full stop and they are rushing us out. All of my friends in other countries are horrified

Going forward as a bare minimum I want reassurance that priority supermarket deliveries won't disappear on the grounds that we are "allowed" out now, so able to queue up at the Co Op.

I also want to know that measures will be taken to keep us as safe as possible when needing tests at hospitals, GP practices and clinics. Safe access for dental treatment too.

Also I've lost count of how many times pre covid that I've been judged harshly for the care I take to avoid infection risks due to my invisible cancer, because "I look fine". It doesn't take the brain of Britain to see that being "allowed out" will mean being judged as no longer being at any more risk than anyone else by a lot of people.

They could give us a bright t shirt to wear when out so people know to give us extra space.

Some decent PPE would be nice.

Better communication would be lovely.

They could give us a bright t shirt to wear when out so people know to give us extra space.

Not for me thanks. If Mumsnet has taught me anything it'd be that a shielding t-shirt would be like a fucking bat signal for all the fucking know it alls who have strong opinions about something that has absolutely nothing to do with them.

By way of a compromise, maybe they could give us a two meter shielding stick to prod people with and immunity from common assault charges?

By staying almost silent on the subject of shielding, other than brief mentions that we are being helped with information via letter and text, we have been badly treated all the way along.

That's why from the beginning of all this I have ignored their advice and done what I feel is best for me.

Considering I've had texts to say you must shield until the end of June, this just proves they couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery. Why trust anything they say.

Clearly some individual people in the shielded category are coping alright with the current restrictions, but the vast majority are not. Some people seem to have forgotten that Covid-19 is not the only risk facing society or individuals which means that for some people who are shielding would actually be at a lower overall risk if they began to take some exercise and fresh air both because inactivity will heighten their current conditions in many cases but also for the benefits it will bring to their mental health.