One thing which most people seems to have wrong is the status of those classified as Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) by the government. Boris touched on the issue is a speech or two; his “thoughts” were as ambiguous and contradictory as they always are. However, the impression received by most people seems to be that CEVs should go out to work and they have no need to self-isolate and/or do the Shielding thing. I am part of a CEV household: my wife and I are both comfortably past 70 years old. She is a govt classified CEV (chronic asthma needing oral steroids) and two weeks ago was rushed to hospital for an emergency major stomach operation. She is still recovering, cannot eat properly and weighs in at 6stone. If she gets the virus, she dies. Simple as that. She’s had pneumonia twice in last three years.
Boris did somewhere in his blather say that there may be some who need to self-isolate. But people didn’t hear that. They hear “shielding” alongside Clinically Vulnerable and think we are making a fuss about nothing. Boris says they can work. Even supermarkets are withdrawing or relaxing their helpful treatment for CEVs: “Boris says they’re well enough to go out to work so they can get off their arses and come into our shops.” It is now very difficult to get deliveries. I dare not go into a supermarket, or any shop for that matter. Just too dangerous.
So that is why we have self-isolated and shielded since March and why we will continue to do so until there is a genuine reduction in the number of cases and deaths and the risk to our lives from Covid.