Coronavirus: 'Shielded' Britons could be told to stay at home for longer than 12 weeks, says health secretary
Matt Hancock says those being "shielded" from COVID-19 could be asked to avoid all face-to-face contact for a longer period.
Wednesday 6 May 2020 14:23, UK
Those who are being "shielded" from coronavirus may have to stay at home beyond the initial 12-week period, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has told Sky News.
Towards the end of March, letters were issued to 1.5m people warning them to "stay at home at all times and avoid all face-to-face contact for at least twelve weeks".
The letters were sent to those who have been judged, for medical reasons, to be most vulnerable to COVID-19.
The health secretary told Sky News on Wednesday that the government hopes those being shielded will see the guidance eased at the end of the 12-week period, but he also admitted they could be asked to stay at home for longer.
Mr Hancock appeared on Sky News' "Ask the Health Secretary" event with Kay Burley, to answer some of the thousands of questions submitted by members of the public.
Linda, from Derbyshire, described how she herself is one of the very vulnerable patients being asked to shield themselves.
She asked whether she would have to wait until a coronavirus vaccine has been developed, which experts have said might not be available until 2021, before she can "hug my children and grandchildren and see my friends".
Mr Hancock explained how those who have specifically received an NHS letter asking them to shield themselves were in a "different category" to all over-70s, as he described how "there has been some confusion between those two groups".
"We asked those who are being shielded to avoid as much human contact as possible for 12 weeks," the health secretary added.
"We may have to extend that 12 weeks but we hope not to.
"We may well be able to release some of those measures before a vaccine is available, if we can get the level of new cases - the number of new cases - right down.
"In some countries they've now managed to get the number of new cases right down and, if we get there, if we succeed in doing that, then we will be able to take clinical advice on whether it's safe for those who are shielded to be able to, for instance, hug their grandchildren."
Mr Hancock added he understood the "emotional impact" on those being asked to stay at home for three months and said the government would include such considerations when they review the UK's lockdown measures.
"There are many people who haven't left their homes now for six weeks or so, that is a long, long time, especially if you don't have a garden," he said.
"So that's right at the front of my mind and making sure we get the rules around those who are shielded right is really important.
"We will take into account, not just the impact of coronavirus, but also the wider impact on people's physical and mental health from being stuck at home for such a long time."
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The health secretary stressed that those being asked to shield themselves were being "shielded for their own protection".
"We all must follow the social distancing guidelines for the protection of public health," he added.
"But the specifically very strenuous rules for those who are shielded are for their protection over and above the broader social distancing rules that we must all follow."