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Covid

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Original poster

A question for other at-risk people

50 replies

janeskettle · 11/04/2020 15:42

Do you feel like there's adequate planning for how you will survive once the economy opens up again?

I see a big push to re-open, but no-one I speak to seems to know what happens to at-risk people in this scenario, other than 'they have to stay at home'.

Which...OK...but for how long and on what money? Will workplaces have to continue to allow us to work from home? Will there be a vulnerable person benefit? Or will it just be survival of the fittest?

I feel at the moment it's a bit like we're an inconvenient cohort to have to consider, and it's find a way to stay home till (IF) there's a vaccine, or take your chances along with the lower risk population.

Curious to know if others in our situation have more of a sense of what will happen to us as a cohort in the coming weeks/months, given that the push to open up is on.

OP posts:

Ciwirocks · 11/04/2020 21:20

They are increasing testing though and planning on continuing to increase further. I do think it’s the quickest way we will all get back out again unless a treatment becomes available. There is no other option other than vaccine which is a while off. There is no easy way out of this

Tiredoutteacher2020 · 11/04/2020 21:28

They've been talking about increasing testing for weeks. I wouldn't rely on this in the UK. The amount of testing has been appaling.

Ciwirocks · 11/04/2020 21:53

I agree, I think the whole management if this has been appalling since everyone returned from their Italian holidays in half term. I need something to hope for though and that seems the fastest way. I haven’t seen my parents or sisters for a month, we usually see each other several times a week. It’s such a horrible situation. I am a HCP as well but can work from home for now, that won’t last though and despite having an underlying health condition I will have to be redeployed at some point but have been assured it will be a non covid area like you can ever be sure of that!

Original poster

janeskettle · 11/04/2020 23:14

I'm sorry to hear that other's are sharing my uncertainty.

I don't really understand the disconnect between people saying that even a month of isolation is terrible for people's mental health, but then blithely saying that 'well, at risk people just have to stay home until there's a vaccine.'

For one thing, there's no guarantee of a vaccine at all. So potentially our lock down could be endless...but because we're at increased risk we'll cope fine?

I'm thinking about work I can do from home too (normally work in a school, allowed to work from home atm, won't be once schools go back).

And I'm wondering if things open up, if I should send my 16 yr old to live with my adult daughter.

I think the end game for us more vulnerable people might be better treatments rather than vaccines, and a fairly isolated, lonely life ongoing.

I do worry we're going to become a literally invisible part of society.

OP posts:

FishOnPillows · 12/04/2020 00:41

Apologies that I get confused with terminology!
Do you mean the shielding group, or the higher-risk (but not shielding) group?

For the shielding group, I honestly have no idea. I would hope they are fully supported to continue shielding if they wish, until they can be adequately protected (vaccine/treatment).

For the higher-risk group, I figure they’ll just be treated like the general population, as they are now. I know a thing was made about this group, but in practice I can’t see any difference between this group and the general public.

TheHobbitMum · 12/04/2020 00:54

I'm shielding at the moment and DH is working from home so at the moment we're managing OK. I do worry about work though as I'm on full pay at the moment but I can't imagine work will be happy to keep paying full wages indefinitely. My DC are all feengaers6so thankfully I don't have to worry about school runs etc
I work in a supermarket so I do worry about what will happen after the 12wks is up

Original poster

janeskettle · 12/04/2020 01:06

Well, I have a (non lifestyle acquired) lung disease, so I don't know which group I'd fall into if I was in the UK.

My risk if I get this is not the same as the general public's.

OP posts:

Babyroobs · 12/04/2020 01:10

I was trying to talk to dh today about this, he is the one shielding as he has severe asthma and on an immunosuppressive treatment. We are all trying hard to keep him safe but I was trying to prepare him that it could be a year before he is able to realistically go out. In the meantime I have 4 teenagers who will need to resume school / college and Uni, travelling on packed buses and being taught in busy classrooms. I don't know what we will do long term to keep him safe. I doubt his employers will let him work from home ( if he even has a job at the end of this) as he needs to be on site. I suggested maybe he could rent a little flat by himself so that the rest of the family could get back to normality but that doesn't seem fair either ?

Lofari · 12/04/2020 01:16

My youngest is being shielded.
I have 2 older ones, 1 of whom i will need to do school run for. I don't understand how we can return to that and still keep my youngest safe. Doesn't seem possible

ClientQ · 12/04/2020 01:18

I don't know. I'm shielded and can't work from home (well technically I can but the IT issues meant I had to stop)
I need to work, no partner to help and I can't pay my mortgage otherwise not entitled to any assistance so I'm screwed

ClientQ · 12/04/2020 01:21

It makes me really cross as well how people are unhappy with staying in for 3 weeks
I can't even go for a walk and I'm alone - as in no human contact for at least 12 weeks. There's no going to the shops or for a stroll, I see nobody. Worked out if it's up after 12 weeks (because of when I finished work) it will be nearly 14 weeks since I've had a face to face conversation with anyone

CherryBakebadly · 12/04/2020 01:37

I’m vulnerable and very worried. I’m lucky enough time be able to work from home so things could be a lot worse but this isn’t living and the idea of doing it for ages and ages while everyone else goes back to normal kind of sucks.

CherryBakebadly · 12/04/2020 01:39

And the support is all such a shit show already, I just don’t believe they’ll do it well.

Original poster

janeskettle · 12/04/2020 04:28

ClientQ, that sounds really tough :(

OP posts:

StinkyWizzleteets · 12/04/2020 04:48

I’m supposed to be strict shielding but my partner is frontline nhs and we live in a tiny house with our kids - no spare rooms or bathrooms for us to isolate to and impossible with kids wanting hugs and kisses as reassurances for their own anxieties . I might as well be wandering the streets licking peoples faces as I feel like I’m just waiting for the virus to be brought home to me. That’s fun, I can tell you.

I’m absolutely fine with being indoors on lockdown while everyone else is but I’m still at risk at home because of my OH’s job. That doesn’t stop the anxiety of Release from lockdown though where my risk increases exponentially when kids return to nursery/school and all their usual activities. I can’t be locked away indefinitely and really only have until term starts in September to make a huge life decision of return to normality or hide away indefinitely

PhilCornwall1 · 12/04/2020 06:15

I'm on the shielding list (if there is such a thing) and have had the letter. I WFH but do visit client sites for consultancy work. Once this is all over and the projects I am on start back up (if I still have a job), I'm going back to normal.

The letter for me has only just arrived telling me to shield for 3 months as of now, so it's a bit bloody late, as I've spent the 3 or so weeks going out (but within the "rules"). We are a family of 4 in a 3 bed house with one bathroom, so it's impossible to follow what they have said I need to do. You need a Rees-Mogg sized residence (including the obligatory bookcase for doing Skype interviews) to be able to live the way they suggest.

I'm not having my wife left with all the day to day shit to deal with out of the house, it's not fair on her at all.

Appuskidu · 12/04/2020 08:44

They are increasing testing though and planning on continuing to increase further

Talking about doing something or promising to do something isn’t the same as actually doing it though.

I have several close family members who are front line nhs-both have been told for weeks that they’ll get testing and PPE soon-none have yet

Kittywampus · 12/04/2020 09:02

I'm in the 'vulnerable' group but not really safe at the moment as dp is still going to work (NHS).

When things go back to normal the children will have to return to school and I will probably have to return to the office. I'm not sure what else we can do. Hopefully over time they will find better treatments and the pressure on hospital beds will reduce, so our chances of a good outcome will improve.

Comenext · 12/04/2020 09:13

When things go back to normal
Sadly I can't see how things can go back to how they were pre-CV.
The new normal will be a strange new way of life for 'at risk' people who are restricted in what they can do and where they can go.
You will be able to take the children to school but can't then meet other mums for a coffee. You can take the children to swimming lessons but you may not feel safe to go for a swim yourself.
At best it will be an awkward compromise.

Hormonecrazyhell · 12/04/2020 09:19

Single mum with 1ds, I work from home in normal times anyway, but contracts are drying up.
My ds asthma is bad, many hospital overnights, steroids inhaler, montelukast and preventer, but in the winter he’d be “shielded” as he goes onto the stronger steroid inhalers, but in the summer months he’d be “vulnerable”. If it comes to it and I have no choice I will take him out of school and home educate, if work gets really slow I will go onto benefits. He won’t be going back into school if they open when the risk is still high

ArkAtEee · 12/04/2020 09:22

I wonder this too. It will be ok for me to work from home long-term and DP is a homeworker too. But DP's job also involves national and international travel, which will be difficult to refuse once things settle down. Also DC will have to go back to school, even if they were allowed to stay home, I couldn't bear being responsible for derailing their education for longer than it needed to be. The idea of shielding seems to assume it's mostly older people.

IncognitoIsMyFavouriteWord · 12/04/2020 09:24

I told my manager when I received my shielded letter and I am able to continue working from home, no questions asked.

If they were to extend it longer than the 12 weeks then it still wouldn't be a problem.

Kittywampus · 12/04/2020 09:42

I wonder if they should stagger the return to work / school. Eg for the first two weeks, only people with no existing health conditions would go back, this would need to apply to them and for people in their household. Then if the number of cases doesn't skyrocket, families with a 'vulnerable' member could follow them?

Appuskidu · 12/04/2020 09:49

I wonder if they should stagger the return to work / school. Eg for the first two weeks, only people with no existing health conditions would go back, this would need to apply to them and for people in their household. Then if the number of cases doesn't skyrocket, families with a 'vulnerable' member could follow them?

The main problems with that are

It would take several weeks after the end of doing this to give any sort of indication of how that was working.

Many schools cannot actually safely open without the vulnerable people as they don’t have enough staff.

PhilCornwall1 · 12/04/2020 10:09

Sadly I can't see how things can go back to how they were pre-CV. The new normal will be a strange new way of life for 'at risk' people who are restricted in what they can do and where they can go. You will be able to take the children to school but can't then meet other mums for a coffee. You can take the children to swimming lessons but you may not feel safe to go for a swim yourself. At best it will be an awkward compromise.*

I honestly can't see people living this way, that won't be a life it will simply be existing and nothing more.

I'm resigned to a shorter life anyway, so once the partial lockdown is lifted, I'm back out. My life has to be lived.

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