did people actually shield

[Sheilashielder]

I live in an area where shielding was only paused in October and reintroduced in January and wa never allowed anything other than a few weeks where you could mix outside but not in gardens and a couple of weeks where you could mix in gardens. I’ve been seeing lots of posts saying people have “pretty much” shielded for a year and Anecdotal evidence from people o know suggests not many people actually followed the guidance at all who are now saying they’ve barely left he hosue for a year

This is another really judgey thread. What is it to you whether people shielded 'properly' or not? Is it the hypocracy of some people? Or is it about shielders getting sick and 'taking up hospital beds'?

I shielded last year for four months. When shielding was paused I had to go back to work. I'm shielding again now, and will stop when the advice changes (or I'm vaccinated, whichever is sooner). I only go out for dog walks (which I guess is technically not shielding but it's outdoors away from anyone else and good for my already compromised health and that of my dog and child so I'm doing it).
I am so down about it. I hate being away from work and social activities (not that they're an option right now) but I am glad I can protect my health for me and for my DS, and I'm grateful to my employer for allowing me to stay at home.

Please don't witch hunt people who have been advised to shield. We are aware that we are more at risk and will make choices that work best for us, which are none of your business. Oh and it's not 'illegal' not to shield so don't start on that

We shielded from March to August. Literally didn’t leave the garden at all. I’ve only left since then to go for walks.

My mum has been out 3 times since last March.

And by didn’t leave the garden I don’t mean we had people in the garden either. Just my household, the only person in and out was the delivery driver who would leave our food delivery on the door step and we’d collect it after we left.

Not sure what you're looking for but here goes

Relative was asked to shield (2 organ transplants). He just followed law like everyone else but always went for daily walk etc. As soon as he was allowed friends round, he had them.

He felt very angry about the letter he got, I didn't see it but he said it felt like "don't dare leave the flat to save the NHS".

A friend was asked to shield - spleen removed - carried on with his job which was classed as essential and office based. His op was when he was a teen and his employer doesn't know about it, luckily.

Oh and friend also returned to the gym as soon as they opened, he normally works out daily.

@purplebagladylovesgin not most. A lot of children had to shield at first and people like me have normal lives. I work FT and would usually be out in bars/clubs at a weekend so this is very alien to be shielding!

My 18 year old daughter has been shielding since March. Her college is online. To her it's not worth the risk.

I shielded from February until May because I was pregnant i never left the house other than for my appointments and I hated it but I was advised to so I did

Well by stating they've shared holiday pics and whatnot I'm assuming SM, and so it's not that surprising it'll be a prime hot bed example of social media martyrs 😆. But for the most part I do believe most people who received the letter to shield have done so as and when they can? Presumably because a high percentage value their life and figure they'd be daft not to? DM & DF have both adhered to it since March (divorced). But for those that have carers coming in it's not exactly like they've had the option to opt out of mixing with others who then mix with others, and so on and so forth. DM had the vaccine today though and I'll be getting it next week so hopefully the shift to normality is finally on the horizon 😊

I've been "more or less" shielding. I didn't have a shielding letter though and I'm only CV rather than CEV. I'm an unpaid carer who really can't afford to get covid and the person I care for is a super spreader so I'm being more cautious. Since March I've been to about 10 hospital appointments, a few walks, 3 visits to PIL's house and 1 shop. DH has been to tesco/asda once a week and we've had a takeaway every couple of months. Dc went to school September to December.

I have been shielding although when the shielding advice was paused in Aug I had to return to work as I needed to be earning a wage (I was only paid to shield while official guidance in place). Everytime shielding has been restarted I've shielded at home and kept to rule strickly. No days out, no holidays and no family parties etc

My consultant did advise me to carry on shielding even when the official guidance was relaxed but I couldn't afford to be at home on SSP/unpaid which would've been my only option

I’m shielding. I sent my children back to school in September as their mental health was struggling with having to shield with me. I went back to work because my employer made reasonable adaptions which IMO were covid safe (I could go to work, enter and exit my office directly from outside and avoid everyone whilst there). I went to work when I got the letter to shield again in autumn but nowhere else. My reasoning - so long as the kids were at school and mixing it seemed irrelevant to shield.

I am shielding now and will go back to work when the schools open (I work in a school).

I had to go to A&E in Early November because I had a bad asthma attack. So apart from work and the hospital I’ve been nowhere else.

@TheHobbitMum I can fully understand that as we've also had individuals at work who were informed they needed to shield, but then had to return to work because the funding to enable them to do that was no longer there? It's a bit infuriating tbh. As surely its either the case or its not? It just seems so illogical and such a piss take there was all this put in place to 'protect people', and then as soon as its deemed to be beyond financially viable it's a case of.. 'yes, yes back to work you go! But we may expect you to again return home on limited to zero income if necessary'. Which imho has placed some of my co-workers in a pretty shitty position that they shouldn't have to decide upon. And in reality increases the number of people mixing at work who'll all be then mixing with other folk themselves via their families. It just seems completely illogical in work environments that have already adapted to pared backed working.

I was shielding and I followed it almost to the letter, the one thing I did which was against guidance was go on walks to a deserted beach near me. I also had no choice but to do click and collect Asda orders since I couldn't get a delivery even with my priority slot.

I'm still being extremely cautious. I saw my family at Christmas and attend a medical appointment once a week but apart from that have very little contact with the outside world.

Of course I did.
Why wouldn't I want to keep myself as well as possible?

My mate said to me at the start of the latest lockdown 'we are not allowed in peoples houses no more'...... she had still been visiting people

@Catsup that's exactly it! One day it's too dangerous for us to be at work and magically at the stroke of midnight it's safe again
I work in a busy supermarket, I couldn't of been around more people of I tried. They really messed up by not keeping the shielding notice active, it's not mandatory so if anyone didn't want to follow the advice they didn't need too but for those of us who don't feel safe at work we really needed the legal protections/benefits the notice gave.
I feel for your coworkers too, far too many had to return to work as SSP isnt anywhere near enough to live on for the majority of people.

Now they are advising those shielding to continue shielding until at least 3 weeks after the second vaccine and hopefully this tike they'll keep the official advice active so we can stay safest at home

Totally an individuals choice how they behave / cope but I can see the OPs POV that if you say you are shielding then that is specifically following the guidelines not picking and choosing which bits you ignore . The odd medical appt / click and collect shop fair enough but a daily walk is not shielding . I feel very sorry for people who want to shield and cannot afford to do so.

@Floralnomad

Totally an individuals choice how they behave / cope but I can see the OPs POV that if you say you are shielding then that is specifically following the guidelines not picking and choosing which bits you ignore . The odd medical appt / click and collect shop fair enough but a daily walk is not shielding . I feel very sorry for people who want to shield and cannot afford to do so.

Where on earth do you get the idea that “a daily walk is not shielding” from? The advice to CEV people literally tells them they can leave the house for exercise. It is avoiding contact with other people from outside their household that constitutes shielding, and it is perfectly possible for many CEV people to take a walk safely and in isolation or with their household members. My DH has shielded throughout so I know exactly what the guidelines constitute; please don’t make shit up.

I work in a hospital; several colleagues were advised to shield initially, then they all returned to work sometime in the summer I think. Two of them are now back to shielding, as the advice has changed.

I wouldn't judge anyone who hasn't shielded completely by the book; it's their life and shielding sounds awful, almost like psychological torture.

I've shielded since February. It was paused where I am in the summer but my consultant advised I continue. I have not had any friends or family into my house since February and I have not been in anyone else's house either. I have not seen my mother or siblings in any meaningful way since then. I don't go for a walk everyday, it depends on how many people my husband sees where we'd walk the dog. It's often busy and seems to be more so with this second lockdown. I have a treadmill which I use most the time.

I feel very self conscious going for a walk where I live because my husbands family are all local and used to pop in a few times a week and took great offence at us sticking to my medical advice and guidelines. Mil is literally round the corner from us and if I'm spotted going anywhere she'd be annoyed. They are all still visiting each other a few times a week and my sil once saw me walking to the doctors for the flu jab and thinks that means I'm lying about shielding. Almost thought he pp might have been her big I suppose lots of people think like that.

I know I should just tell sil to fuck off and concern herself with her own behaviour but I just can't be arsed. I've no energy anymore.

My husband has shielded since mid March, and like others was advised by his consultant to continue even when the government said it was paused. To protect him the rest of our household have shielded too, so we have been out, gone to a shop etc, or 10 months now. It's much harder in the winter.

PILs shielded except for when bingo opened. They claimed they were shielding so we had to do 4/5hr round trips to take their shopping and medication then would tell us what prizes they won at bingo
Aunty keeps telling us how she hasn't seen anyone or been anywhere then shows us what she's bought at the shops

I’ve shielded, I have walks at quiet times and when shielding paused in summer it took me a few weeks to be brave enough to go anywhere but we managed a few nice weeks which I’m grateful for.

The idea that shielders are mostly very poorly is not true, I know many who are definitely not that. Personally I’m not ill in the slightest and normally very active so that assumption is really annoying.

Walks were encouraged after a point, saying people didn’t shield when they took guidance to the letter and had a bit of exercise is really odd.

I can understand people who have done a lot for people shielding only to discover they’ve been off out to bingo but still expshopping delivered like @Godimabitch being put out, that’s just bloody rude of the shielding person. The majority of us haven’t pulled shit like that though.