The government has issued new guidance to clinically vulnerable people who need to shield from Covid-19.
The new guidelines have been updated to reflect restrictions imposed through the new tier system, which has seen Liverpool placed in Tier 3 – the highest category of alert due to the city’s steep rise in the infection rate.
The new guidance is set out in 2 parts:
- Updated advice on protecting the clinically extremely vulnerable, based on the local COVID alert level in your area. This advice is less restrictive than previous shielding advice.
- Updated shielding advice that is more targeted and will only apply in some of the worst affected areas and only for a limited period of time. You are only advised to follow shielding advice if you receive a new written shielding notification.
What has changed?
While previous shielding guidance helped protect those most at risk from COVID-19, many people reported that they found the advice very restrictive.
Since the introduction of shielding, many new measures have been introduced in our communities, including the rule of 6, COVID-secure workplaces, and the widespread use of face coverings, all of which have reduced the need for such restrictive shielding advice.
The government also has better data on new infections and has introduced local COVID alert levels, with rules and advice based on the level of risk in a local area.
This updated guidance offers additional advice to the clinically extremely vulnerable over and above local COVID alert level guidance.
This new guidance aims to strike a better balance between providing practical steps to help keep you safe while reducing some of the potentially harmful impacts on mental and social wellbeing that were associated with previous strict shielding.
It sets out the steps clinically extremely vulnerable people can take to protect themselves at each local COVID alert level.
For more information please go to this link
