Thread for Shielding families?

[namechangedforthecraic]

Hi - is there already a thread running for people who are shielding? We've got two extremely vulnerable people in our household and I'm really confused and nervous about the relaxation of lockdown and the imminent 'pausing' of shielding.

I've been reading replies on other COVID threads that are mainly along the lines of saying that we all need to get back to normal, shielding is ending etc etc but our vulnerable people are no less at risk if they were to catch the virus and there's no cure or vaccine out there yet.

I'm just wondering how other people in shielding households are responding to the changes and how you're coping with life out there seemingly returning to 'normal'?

We are slowly but cautiously moving to normal.

My son who is the one who is shielding also has significant mental health issues which in the past have led to not being able to get him out to house at all. In order to preserve his mental health we had to make the decision to see close family and go out cautiously and to places more likely to be safe (going to a national trust gardens today)

He is going into year 6 In September and unless the situation worsens again will be going back to school because he needs to and wants too. His school are fantastic so we are hoping it’s possible

My partner is shielding so I am more or less been following suit.

I think lockdown and shielding is being relaxed for the sake of the economy, not because its any safer for shielders.

We're both happily working from home for now and we both hope that continues for as long as possible.

We both have to commute on the tube so are very nervous about returning to the office but that is hopefully not until sept/oct.

So to all intents and purposes, we will continue to shield for as long as possible, regardless of flakey advice from the govt.

Shielding will continue in Wales until at least 16 August and I feel that's taking the pressure off people to get back to normal. A member of my family is shielding and is now seeing family members in the garden but not relaxing any other elements.

Yes there is a shielding chat thread (I'll link it next time I spot it)

My biggest concern at the moment is how to be able to stay 2m away from strangers who no longer seem to care about soicual distancing (which has not been abolished). Fortunately, many people are still sensible. But it is quite a limited on which places are likely to be safe, as crowded pavements are out.

I'm trying not to even think about what the return to school will mean until nearer the time. Going from only being near family, with recent addition of outdoors exercise and leisure, to unmasked indoors proximity with hundreds of other people, all in the space of one month is unsettling.

But time has not been passing in a normal sort of way, so perhaps it'll seem OK when it's actually happening, but right now it's an enormous step.

It's tricky. I do think that our family do need to take some risks for the well being of all of us. I'm the shieldee (?) in the family, I expect I would have a different approach if one of the children were significantly at risk.

My DH has started back at work but he is able to pick and choose his projects and is able to select those in which he is working in relative isolation. We've started to go out and about a lot more - we even booked a couple of camping holidays over the six weeks - although we have a caravan - so again, the risk from being in communal areas on the site is somewhat mitigated.

I have had to decline some important indoor event - just because indoors has become my current line in the sand.

When the kids go back to school in September ours will join them. That's when I am most concerned. It's going to be a matter of density of spread x likelyhood of transmission in the home x likelyhood of a severe consequence - at that point I'll just have my fingers crossed that I'm not that unlucky.

That's what terrifies me @Hyperion100, that the government is prioritising the economy over risk and there's little mention about how vulnerable people are meant to be moving forward. One of our shielded family members is a child and the other is very elderly and extremely fragile. One of us also works in a school. I can't bear the thought of how we'll manage in September. We'll just continue as we are over the summer, staying at home or having local walks.

My 7 year old is shielding so we have all been shielding as a family. Frankly, I find the return to school terrifying and can't believe that there doesn't even seem to be a requirement that schools discuss a shielding child's needs with parents and put in adjustments for them in the same way as workplaces are doing for adults.

I am shielding because I'm pregnant. There were reports that coronavirus could cause premature birth. Also if I can't take medication for hardly anything it's best to avoid getting seriously ill.

Until the baby is out or the situation REALLY improves, I'm going to continue to stay at home. We drive to different parks for picnics and some sun. But that's it.

DD1 starts reception in September. If the situation is bad, again she won't go until baby is out. We are lucky she still wouldn't get fined for absences. It would really upset me if I find that other families are being penalised for trying to protect their health.

but our vulnerable people are no less at risk if they were to catch the virus and there's no cure or vaccine out there yet. The one thing that is in their favour is that they are likely to be treated, whereas the between-the-lines message early on was - treatment will be reserved for those "most likely to benefit" - and the vulnerable were unlikely to qualify.

I'm supposed to go back to work on a supermarket shop floor on the 3rd August. I'm allowed to wear a face mask, but I'm scared of picking it up at work.

grey12

Is your due date after 1 August, when shielding pauses for everyone? Because nobody will be shielding then, but we do expect to be the first under restrictions again if case numbers rise locally (regionally, nationally)

If you have not already secured priority supermarket slots, then you may want to get 'shield priority' ones, in which case you need to do so before the end of this month. This priority should endure through the winter, so worth having. It should also put you on your council's radar for a household to check (ditto GP).

But the person you most need to talk to is your cardiologist - as it is only heart conditions which put pregnant women into the shielded category and it is your own team who will advise you best on measures after deshielding.

(unless you have one of the other shielded conditions and happen to be pregnant, in which case you probably went round these houses in March)

My 7 yr ild is shielding till 16th august at least. We will continue to be very cautious even if shielding ends then.
The worse thing is other people being less cautious ie coming close to house with parcels / deliveries. Coming close on walks.

This is definately getting worse.

My husband is likely to have to go back to work soon

We are unlikely to return to school in sept

I am shielding. My daughter aged 8 has been invited to her school for a "catch up" in the school playground at lunch time on Friday for 90 minutes and I am asking what exactly this will involve (will there be distancing etc?). It would be great for her to see her friends but not so great for her if we have family illness.

My son's school have said to us that everyone will be back full time in September and that attendance is mandatory. No masks will be worn (unless the students choose to have their own). There is also a logistical issue re transport. I could drive him but if he gets the infection then he is likely to give it to me on the journey.

I am quite concerned that the numbers are still quite high even so soon after lockdown and in the summer, and that we may well be in for a resurgence. I'm not sure what best to do.

I found this thread and was so relieved that some people are feeling the same way. I am not on the vulnerable list but I have asthma and don't expect to fair too well if I caught cv. My family have been very supportive and we have remained at home together. We have 3 dcs and the guidance from their schools has made me really anxious. I can't sleep (which is unheard of for me). There is basically little to no precautions being taken in one school. It is a v v large primary. I can see that it's really challenging for them. They don't have space to spread out, so seem to have just accepted this and given up. My dc who is on roll there really wants to return. There's all this talk and planning of an autumn spike, and me feeling that I have no confidence in one school's ability to manage this. My dc may be fine. But others not. I cant understand how people have to wear masks in transport and shops. Teachers can wear PPE but children not. Plus school attendance is mandatory. It feels like a mess. I don't feel I can trust government advice nor school's arrangements.

@YorkshirePuddingsGreatestFan

I'm supposed to go back to work on a supermarket shop floor on the 3rd August. I'm allowed to wear a face mask, but I'm scared of picking it up at work.

Me too. I'm really concerned.

I won't be doing anything else other than going to work and back home but work is really concerning me - people aren't going to stay two metres away are they?

I don't mean to belittle your concerns Mapless but I really haven't seen much evidence that mild/ moderate asthmatics are particularly vulnerable. I think their working assumption when this virus hit was asthmatics would be because they fair worse with the other coronaviruses. But the case studies and stats that followed don't indicate that they are in the same league as say, diabetes or copd.

I was asked to shield because of the drugs I take for asthma but I suspect that even I will be jettisoned from the list once they take a more tailored approach and consider the mitigating factors of age and sex.

Why don't you ring your gp, if you haven't already, and see what they think? Shielding is such an extreme and disruptive endeavour and it might be more of a disadvantage to your well-being if you are undertaking it without good cause.

Or - just disregard this post- if you want. It's up to you how to manage this with your own set of circumstances. You don't owe anyone an explanation - but I just thought it might be something to consider.