Shielding advice is basically bollocks

[nomdefuckit]

Who can stay 2m away from a toddler?

No proper guidance anywhere!

What do you do? Isolate the entire house for three months?

Im on the shielding list and if Im going to pop it over the next 12 weeks I want my last weeks with my kids to be with me not touching them. We're also in a small house. So we're all shielding. Noone leaves the house for 12 weeks, everything washed before it comes in.

I'm a bit worried about food and pharmacy. I had a tesco shop but haven't got another one. I'm just hoping it will be okay.

Im proper scared I wouldn't makenit if I got it.

I think the advice has to take into advice lots of different circumstances and situations.
So I would say they have given advice for the worst case scenarios - maybe someone in a shared house where all the other people are in and out and maybe working, possibly in a built up and busy city.

We have taken the chance to do a risk assessment for this, based upon our own circumstances.

So we are a family group. I can choose to go to work if I need, but that work is on the family farm 3 miles away and everybody at that premisis is also doing an extreme isolation. My parent's in law are elderly and have carers so neither I nor my partner (who lives at the farm) go in there at all.

My partner is also on the vulnerable list so he is staying in his cottage or going outside on the farm to do bits and pieces. He is having deliveries to his cottage for food. He also has Aspergers so is absolutely anal about the transmission risk and making sure that he cannot pick it up from anything. His house is now like infection control central.

So my work is not a risky environment.

My car was recently serviced and everything was sterilised on its return, and its now sitting for 5 days before I use it again. The garage picked it up and delivered it for me.

My household is on isolation apart from me going to work. We have deliveries for food and supplies. anything coming in is sterilised and no boxes pass the threshold - they are opened, contents tipped in, disposed of and then hands and knife to open boxes washed thoroughly. spray the door bell for anyone elses safety.

My son stays in or plays in the garden. My daughter then is able to mix with us as we have done everything to prevent cross infection. Its like a 2 week course on IVs extended and cranked up, so we are sort of already able to do it. We are lucky enough to live in the countryside so we can get out if needed, and the air is much cleaner. I decided that reducing our freedoms gave my daughter more freedoms, which made life more fair and doable.

And dont forget that this is advice. You need to use your own assessment from what you understand, so that you can do the best you can.

Good point @nettletea. I think we are a low risk household - I'm WFH, only going out for exercise and food shopping as little as possible. Daughter only going out for exercise, and clearly we stay away from others. I don't feel like my husband has to isolate from both of us to the extent which is being suggested.

Also, what are people's thoughts on people who are shielding not being allowed to go out into their own gardens?

go on your local facebook grups - there are volunteers there while the official hubs get set up.
my local group has just been to the pharmacy and collected my daughters medication and dropped it in a recycling box Ive put by the front door. There are people in every area offering to do shopping, colect meds, etc. If you are worried you can get things that come in tins and boxes plastic packaging only so it can all be washed as it comes in, though I believe they have said that it should be fine on fruit and veg

My daughter is going in the garden. To be honest Id probably let her go for a walk outside but that is because of where we live. Im prepared to take her in my car to the farm where I know its 100% safe and get her to help me plant vegetables

I've just seen some shops with local deliveries on Twitter.

I think I can make it work apart from milk.

I feel better reading that others find it not practicable to distance from family and it would be more humane to let households isolate instead, by organising better support.

Also, what are people's thoughts on people who are shielding not being allowed to go out into their own gardens?

DCMO said on the Mumsnet chat that shielders can go out in the garden provided they are at least 2m from others.

My DH is the one that needs shielding. 3 of us here, I don’t work and DD is WFH, as is DH.

Re going out in garden there was a webchat on here earlier with Dr Jenny Harries, someone asked that Q, answer is on P5, it’s ok if you’ve got 2m either side.

Help groups Covid-19 Mutual Aid Uk

The letter says ‘if you do not have contacts who can help support you’ so I take that as meaning people OUTSIDE of your household. If everyone is able to stay at home, then yes you should certainly be using it. That said DH decided not to! I’m going to log on in a min and see what it says.

I haven’t even tried to get an online shop yet. Got stocked up in Jan with storecupboard stuff, and already used Gousto. I log every week as soon as the menus become available and get 4 vegetarian meals, so that boosts the healthy stuff.

The official advice says not to go in the garden and just to open a window.

Exactly @iVampire I want to be able to get a priority slot so I can look after myself. It is wonderful that volunteers want to help people but I’m a 40 year old mother of two who in normal life has good health and a job. I don’t want to rely on a volunteer to bring me a parcel of food. I don’t look vulnerable for a start! The volunteer would wonder what the hell I needed them for!

What do you actually get from the gov register?

There is no information

@MangePasTesOnglesVilain sorry was busy with the kids.

No managed to get a delivery slot this week fortunately. After this my brother will be shopping for us as long as he stays well.

Our children have been repeatedly hospitalised over colds so I am not prepared to risk either myself or my DH leaving the house and bringing it back. I batch blend and freeze tube feeds for a few weeks anyway so even if we have to go hungry a while the kids should be ok hopefully.

Under the title of how to look after your mental well-being while isolating, on the shielding information which was linked under the initial test, which gives more detailed advice it say:

"try spending time with the windows open to let in the fresh air, arranging space to sit and see a nice view (if possible) and get some natural sunlight, or get out into any private space, keeping at least 2 metres away from your neighbours and household members if you are sitting on your doorstep"

So, I'm going in the garden and come in if the neighbours come out.

Nomdefuckit I think if you tick that you dint have anyone to help with food or medivine they are pairing you up with local volunteers ?

I wanted tk use gousto. Havw before but wasnt sure I could sterilise it all.

I think we will be liv8ng off tinned and frozen veg 🙄

OrganTransplant. Where are you getting your official advice not to go in garden and just open a window?

Photos of DH letter (he’s on immunotherapy for cancer).

My husband is on the list, we are all staying in - incl our two toddlers.

I'm getting whatever I can delivered locally, and eating a lot of canned food!

SquashedFly Miltons is your friend - 20 mins soaking loose stuff, then rinse, good to go.
Although that said DD was ordering shampoo from Boots, asked if I wanted anything, said Miltons, but none available ☹️. Still have a nearly full pack of tablets left, so hopefully there will be some available Somewhere before I run out!

I open the cardboard box with gloves, open cold pack, leave it all outside. Wipe everything down, then all the little packs, it’s a bloody faff, but doable.

Yes you are right @NoNamesNoPackDrillHere The website link doesn’t mention gardens but the letter does.

I havent ever used milton and I guess inpossible to get now.

We're wondering about wiping tins down with either soapy water of bleach
(outdoors bg my husband. Would set my asthma off!)

We were doing similar with cardboard from amazon. But stopped ordering now so its one less to worry about.Its so scary isnt it.

5 litre bottles of Milton at this catering place

some cleaning products too, plus flour, sugar....

www.foodangles.com/

OrganTransplant. Thank you for making me smile for the first time today (and we all need to find something to smile about atm)! It’s a little in joke between me and DD about being right. In my Mother’s Day card she put It would like to admit you were right about the food (because I was buying from Jan, and they were all taking the Mickey out of me). Now that is the second time you have been right (she’s talking about in her whole life)! Now I can show her I’ve been right 3 times in 22 years 😂😂.
SquashedFly I’m no expert, but soapy water first yes, bleach, very well diluted aI should think. It’s bad enough if you don’t have any problems, so good call on sending DH outside to do.
I read 24 hrs for cardboard, hence the gloves and leaving outside.

I found a link on Sainsbury's website to register as vulnerable.

@MangePasTesOnglesVilain

Could you post it or PM it?

Here it is, about halfway down page. You fill in a form.

www.sainsburys.co.uk/shop/gb/groceries/working-to-feed-the-nation-/latest-information--

It's still not letting me book a slot though. Maybe it needs to be processed before it works.