To think it is utterly crazy that shielders can now meet up with people?

[Biglittlethings]

At midnight last night the Government slipped out a frankly bizarre new alteration to the rules in that shielders, who have been told on the one hand to expect that they will need to shield beyond 30 June, will from tomorrow be able to not only leave the house, but meet up with others from different households.

"From Monday, the 2.2 million people who’ve been shielding can go outside for first time. This will be with either members of their household, or, if they live alone, to meet one other person."

Further information will follow in today's press conference.

Am I the only one to think this is absolutely ridiculous, and not at all in the interests of "the science?"

They are running before they can walk,
the rest of the world is far stricter

As you've said, it's only shielders who live alone who can meet with someone - one person - from outside their household. I think possibly the government is responding to pleading from shielders about the effect on their mental health of endless months of solitary confinement.

BeyondDreams, your friend is right, the advice is that you can go to someone's garden and, if necessary, go through the house to get there. Only with your permission of course If you don't want your friend doing that, then tell her. But the guidance is that people can.

Decide yourselves what's best for your individual needs, as you would for any illness.

I think possibly the government is responding to pleading from shielders about the effect on their mental health of endless months of solitary confinement.

Yup. This is what I think too. And..another way I can see the government really cannot win whatever they say! When it was announced others could resume a little of normal life, a lot of shielders kicked off as they have been in for ages and were 'being left to rot'. So it was changed to include some guidance for them too, should they chose to socialise, slightly. And now thats been taken as 'they want to kill off the vulnerable!'..

Pacmanitee

That is bad@DidoLamenting, how are you feeling now? I might have misread it, but haven't they found that for some people blood clots on the lungs can be a side effect of covid?

There was no suggestion it was Covid related. They took masses of blood samples and I was in hospital overnight but there was no suggestion from them it was Covid - rather it was connected to Crohn's disease. Crohn's has flared up again as well so I'm expected to shield against something I probably won't catch whilst not getting care for something I do have.

What makes you say my friend is right, Elizabeth?

The best thing to do is ring your doctor tomorrow and see what they advise because every shielded person's circumstances will be individual

I hope nobody does this. Surgeries are busy enough without having to tell people that they are still high risk.

The government now realise that some of the most risky conditions for covid - obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes - are so prevalent amongst the British public that they cannot make allowances for all people who have them. They’ll soon try to make the very concept of shielding obsolete.

It seems daft, spoke to the asthma nurse last week from asthma clinic she said I should be shielding and not leaving the house and not to send kids back and reassess september, as too high risk. Doubt its changed that much in a week so going to stick to original plan of shielding but it's a micky take considering things are only just getting sorted and only just started getting help, bet there will be no help now :/

Couldn't social distance anyway effectively with my sons autism due to his meltdowns.

But they don't have to do it but some are desperate to do and it's giving people a choice

It seems pretty clear that this wouldn't have been contemplated if the Conservatives had been doing better in Opinion Polls.

@Redolent pretty insensitive post. Its like you are implying it's everyones 'fault' ²that they are having to sheild because of their life choices. Though I agree that some people could help themselves many people are sheilding because of things way out of their control.

They aren’t following the science anymore, this is just a attempt to pacify some people.

[quote Tailoff]@Redolent pretty insensitive post. Its like you are implying it's everyones 'fault' ²that they are having to sheild because of their life choices. Though I agree that some people could help themselves many people are sheilding because of things way out of their control.[/quote]
That’s not what I said or meant at all. I’m not blaming anyone for choices. I’m simply pointing out the government’s commitment to review the shielding list, based on new evidence on who is actually most at risk. Things like HBP and diabetes have emerged as significant risk factors over the last few weeks...so of course this government won’t be up for supporting them to shield (not saying I agree with their decision).

Anyway this is just me speculating.

Well your not being forced to do it so what's the problem.

I totally agree OP.

Also, to those saying shielders should be able to make up their own minds about risks - I agree too - however they are not being given the information in order to do this. The psychological implication of saying that shielders should be able to go out AND meet up with another household is completely the wrong way to help someone weigh up risks.

For a start - they have not outlined the risks. R is still too uncomfortably close to 1 for me to ease out of lockdown in such a woolly way. Businesses and shops opening, and schools, all are still not really geared up for social distancing adequately. It’s quite hit and miss. Contact tracing is not up and running.

That is what shielders need to know in order to make an informed decision.

Directors of Public Health across England have called on the government to not come out of lockdown so soon. They are the experts in the field. Shielders should listen to them.

BeyondDreams, I said she was right because that's the current guidance, I heard it from Boris' mouth the other day. You can go to someone's garden and, if you need to, you can walk through the house to get there. You can also use the toilet if you clean it and anything you've touched in the house afterwards. I'm not saying whether I agree with it or not, but that's the guidance.

@ElizabethG81 he wasn’t talking about people visiting those who are shielding.

I don't think BeyondDreams specified whether s/he is shielding? And I don't think Boris' message was very clear about whose houses he was talking about, which is obviously a big part of the problem.

@ElizabethG81 Beyond dreams did say they were shielding that was the whole point of their post. And Boris was clearly not talking about shielded people as at that point there was no mention of them having garden visitors.

I've looked back and honestly can't see where they have said they're shielding. I don't want an argument about it, I was just responding to what was said about someone going through the house to get to the garden.

can anyone clarify does this mean those shielding are able to go to shops in theory for instance, I can understand a walk for those who are shielding and able to effectively social distance as easier to avoid people but shops and places where there will be people be more risky.

@wildchild554 the advice is to continue to avoid crowded places like shops