Sheilding

[lynbrown]

I need some advice please. I am over 70 and have Type 2 diabetes.. Should I be sheilding? Who decides?

[brainiac]

What have you been doing for the last four months?

[lynbrown]

Shielding...sorry.

[Buenchico]

'Shielding' in England officially ends (or, at least, will be 'paused') in little over a week's time:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19


Most people I know who've been shielding (either strictly or with a certain amount of flexibility built into the way that they've been doing things all along anyway) have already started to relax quite a bit.

e.g. my 77-year-old friend, who's been shielding because of his age, has just recently set out on a three-week trip, staying in B&Bs and eating and drinking in pubs. A 74-year-old friend (who, under the UK government's advice, should also be shielding because of her age) will be flying on Ryanair from Italy to the UK tomorrow. I should still be shielding towards the end of next week too (as I'm in the highest risk group, due to ongoing chemotherapy) but I'll be catching a train to join that friend for an al fresco pub lunch with her on either Thursday or Friday.

However, as I've said, shielding doesn't officially cease until the end of this month; you can see the full list of people included within the 'shielding' groups here:
https://digital.nhs.uk/coronavirus/shielded-patient-list

As the whole thing has only ever been 'advisory', rather than a legal requirement, anyway, it's entirely up to you to decide whether to continue shielding or to start to enjoy life a bit more.

[lynbrown]

Thank you all.