Government Issues Shielded Residents Guidance
dhbecause of an underlying health condition, and for their family, friends and carers.
Shielding is a measure to protect extremely vulnerable people from coming into contact with coronavirus, by minimising all interaction between them and others. It is intended for use in situations where the extremely vulnerable person is living in their own home, with or without additional support. This includes the extremely clinically vulnerable people living in long-term care facilities, either for the elderly or persons with special needs.
Those who are extremely vulnerable should:
- not leave their homes
- minimise all non-essential contact with other members of their household
This is to protect those who are at very high risk of severe illness from coronavirus (COVID-19) from coming into contact with the virus.
People at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 should strictly follow shielding measures.
People in this higher risk group include:
- those who have had an organ transplant and remain on ongoing immunosuppression medication
- those with cancer who are undergoing active chemotherapy or radiotherapy
- those with cancers of the blood or bone marrow such as leukaemia who are at any stage of treatment
- those with severe chest conditions such as cystic fibrosis or severe asthma (requiring hospital admissions or courses of steroid tablets)
- those with rare diseases that significantly increase the risk of infections such as SCID and homozygous sickle cell
- those with severe diseases of body systems, such as severe kidney disease (dialysis)
- those who are pregnant with significant heart disease (congenital or acquired)
