A nice man from the NHS just phoned me...

[Pebble21uk]

... and told me to shield!!

He said I might not have received a letter yet (I haven't) but that I will very shortly and I should be shielding!
I'm asthmatic, but I thought I was in the 'vulnerable' catagory when looking at the criteria released by asthma.org a few weeks ago, rather than shielding catagory. I'm on Fostair 100/6 twice a day and have had one course of steroids in the last 12 months. Also use salbutemol as needed.

Fortunately I haven't been out of the house for 6 weeks now anyway! We are lucky we have a large garden and have been sticking to that (and no children to consider)... has anyone else been told this after several weeks lockdown??

Yes who is in the shielded group criteria has changed over time. Presumably as they work out who really is vulnerable. I have seen people post that they are no longer considered extremely vulnerable, but some that were not in the shielded group now are.

My mum is extremely vulnerable, she has Motor Neurone Disease. The MND Association told us 7 weeks ago that we needed to shield so we have.

Mum also has COPD, we got letters from her doctor surgery, last Thursday, a letter from Respiratory team at the hospital on Friday and a letter from the neurology team at the hospital yesterday. All dated 17th April.

My dad is vulnerable, diabetes and dementia but thinks he can go out because he’s not extremely vulnerable and didn’t get a letter. I don’t let him go out, now he hates me!

I'm on the same medication as you and my last asthma review came out as me being amber... I wonder if I am about to get one?

Thanks to those who have replied to me.

I think I have more or less decided that I will simply continue as I am, being reasonably careful with what I do.

I am not big on going out to socialise anyway, and staying at home doesn't, in itself, cause me too much of a personal issue. I am something of a natural social distancer anyway.

Pinch points could come though if my elderly parents (who are shielding and were told to in the very first batch of letters) encounter any further problems. They don't live nearby and have already had one serious scare, though not a Covid related issue. It frightened us all, but is thankfully better - for now, it is in abeyance rather than gone away.

Possibly ensuring reliable information has been given to them ease lockdown? Shielding will still have to shield so crucial they have captured the right people before they start to lift.

I've been shielding since this all kicked off. Got my letter yesterday. Its helpful for work purposes and to get delivery slots.

cantory there are a lot of rural areas not covered, especially rural mountain areas like in Wales/Scotland. We have parts here where there's no mobile signal, no broadband and no tv services. It's part of a much bigger problem.

Example, I can only get one radio station. The bandwidth is so narrow that when listening to it (usually late at night) it also picks up emergency services and taxis. Emergency services are aware but it's the only bandwidth that works round here. Some places they get nothing at all.

GPs are reviewing their lists of shielded and high risk patients. They need to validate that first extraction of patients is correct and then update for the new guidance. But that guidance is evolving and changing because it’s a new virus and illness.

I'm a splenectomy patient and just called my GP surgery. Apparently their system has no info on adding asplenic patients to the shielding list. So, who knows?

Yep, DH got the same call yesterday. Picking up the stragglers 😅

AldiAisleOfCrap, that's a misconception re grandparents and childcare.

I watch the science stuff. I watched the last scientific Panorama. I'm not prepared to shield for possibly a year and that's the reality of this, for others, who are older it could be for the rest of their lives. My DD can't afford not to work, in part thanks to austerity.

Seems there are lots of us out there just being contacted... maybe it's a change of criteria - this is certainly a continuously evolving thing!

I'm in a fortunate position that I can heed the advice - certainly for the time being anyway! And if it means I don't have to keep trying to get Tesco slots at midnight and finding them gone before I get through the queue, then bring on the letter!

I was told to shield from the start.

If it helps I have taken 5 courses of oral steroids Prenisolone in the last 6 months and have a very high dose (maximum) for prevention and use my reliever often - more than 3 x daily and have been in hospital on oxygen for 2 days twice in the last 5 years.

If you have no problems with shielding then it won't hurt to be on the safe side. It caused problems for me initially but now I can get online delivery once a week.

PS - The shielding group don't even go out for walks.... so many people say they are shielding/isolating and they go out and about for walks .... that's not shielding!

@doodleygirl In the original guidance, those with no spleen were indeed on the high vulnerable list. I would absolutely shield if I were you. Yes they may have downgraded you but... eh... if you can afford to do it and your MH can withstand it then I would absolutely shield.

I’m on a higher dose (2x200mcg) and definitely wouldn’t be very high risk. Having had suspected covid I don’t think asthma necessarily makes you more likely to get the bad version of the virus, unlike diabetes/high blood pressure/obesity seems to, but it does make asthma much worse. Almost seven weeks after feeling off I’m still a bit wheezier than beforehand. Most asthmatics with good control and health will be ok. GPs are very proactively offering antibiotics and oral steroids and you could ask about bumping up your steroid inhaler dose in advance.

@Foxglade I think you have got the wrong end of the stick. Initially I was in the vulnerable group but not the shielded group. That advice has now changed and people without spleens have now been put into the shielded group.

I am going to follow the advice to shield until end of June, whatever happens after that I have no idea.

@IdaBlakenship I think you should go back to your GP as they are giving you the wrong information.

www.gponline.com/u-turn-splenectomy-patients-added-covid-19-shielding-list/article/1681307

@Ponoka7
I'm not prepared to shield for possibly a year and that's the reality of this, for others, who are older it could be for the rest of their lives. My DD can't afford not to work, in part thanks to austerity.
I understand what you are saying and it’s entirely your choice whether to shield or not. You can’t provide child care if you die though, and your risk of dying from Covid19 is very high if you are in the shielded group.

I am shielding , we have to shield as a family as my dh provides personal care. We are all struggling, especially as my dad died last month from Covid19 and my mum is now shielding alone.

I've received 2 phone calls now from the NHS shielding phoneline, saying I should have received a letter telling me to shield.

I haven't received a letter, and I have no health conditions at all, so I have no idea why they have my information.

It does seem like there might be some data quality issues

@doodleygirl I have emailed them with that article and asked for an official response. It was a bit ‘computer says no’ when I called them earlier

AldiAisleOfCrap, but my specialist nurse didn't think so. I don't think everyone in the shielding group is at equal risk. If I die my DD will inherit, so she could forget work for a year or so.

GP surgery have got back to me. Apparently I've been missed off the list and should have had a letter.

@Ponoka7 yes you are right not everyone is at equal risk. That’s reassuring from your specialist nurse.
I do understand where you are coming from.

It's really very confusing - I haven't had a shielding letter but a consultant friend (who's known my history for the last 25 years) was very surprised to hear I hadn't and advised me to behave as if I had. That said, in Wales they're continuously behind NHS England and also sent a whole tranche to old addresses, but that apparently has been rectified and still nothing.

I'm on frequent Ventolin to control constant wheeze, Fostair 100/6 16 puffs a day (4 x 4 puffs), double the usual daily dose of Montelukast and was hospitalised for 6 days in December 2019 (with three courses of prednisolone) and a week in July 2018 with four courses. I also have MS so have a weakened immune system. I happened to speak to the practice nurse today about the immunisation schedule for my son, and she asked in a roundabout way how my asthma was (not good because there's no bloody Fostair!) but didn't seem overly bothered.

Without a shielding letter to 'prove it' I'll be expected to be back in the office the second the restrictions are lifted to allow people to return to the workplace. It's really worrying.