UK government's 12 week shielding group.

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Everyday there is people asking "I have ,x,y,z conditions, should I be shielding for 12 weeks?" or "I have not received a letter from government, but should I be shielding for 12 weeks?"

The following is the list of conditions where patients should have received the "12 weeks shielding/isolation" letter -

"What do we mean by extremely vulnerable?

People falling into this extremely vulnerable group include:

Solid organ transplant recipients.

People with specific cancers:

people with cancer who are undergoing active chemotherapy

people with lung cancer who are undergoing radical radiotherapy

people with cancers of the blood or bone marrow such as leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma who are at any stage of treatment

people having immunotherapy or other continuing antibody treatments for cancer

people having other targeted cancer treatments which can affect the immune system, such as protein kinase inhibitors or PARP inhibitors

people who have had bone marrow or stem cell transplants in the last 6 months, or who are still taking immunosuppression drugs

People with severe respiratory conditions including all cystic fibrosis, severe asthma and severe COPD.

People with rare diseases and inborn errors of metabolism that significantly increase the risk of infections (such as SCID, homozygous sickle cell).

People on immunosuppression therapies sufficient to significantly increase risk of infection.

Women who are pregnant with significant heart disease, congenital or acquired."

This is the list list that I think most employers will look at if you request time off from work.

Personally, no matter how fit and healthy I was, I would isolate myself for as long as possible regardless of whatever the official rules/lists the government produce.

Having kidney failure alone will not place you in the above group, but would plave you in the less severe "High Risk" group. At the moment (during lockdown) the rules for general population is the same as the High Risk group, but obviously, High Risk group people are more at risk.

I believe that the risk groups only matter when it comes to employed people requesting time off work, everyone else should be sensible and isolate whether they appear on a list on a piece of paper or not.

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Sadly not enough people have grasped the reality we are in and how it can impact CKD people.

First point.

NO one is at anymore risk than anyone else of contracting Covid 19. Not even those of use with impaired health issues.

You, Me or Anyone else are all at the same risk if Covid 19 is in your area.

Compromised health is not a magnet for Covid 19.

Second point

ONCE and this is if you are unlucky enough to contract Covid 19.

You, We, Me are more vulnerable to a more severe bout due to health issues we may have.

Final point

With CKD our immune systems ARE compromised as the kidneys produce vitamin D which is required for our immune systems, as with anyone else for that matter.

Reduced kidney function , reduced vitamin D production and reduced immune system.

Hence our health is compromised.

The degree of our compromised immune system is what I concentrate on, not the so called risk as even a healthy person has the same risk of contraction with Covid 19 as I/we do.

Any one who thinks differently, good luck with that.

Some Covid 19 facts;

It lasts for 72 hours in the environment, on plastics, steels and so on.

It lasts for 24 hours on paper and cardboard items.

It can reach 8 meters when propelled by a severe sneeze.

It can get into your body through nose, mouth and eyes.

Many people make the mistake of handling their gloves without washing the gloved hand first. This transfers the virus to your skin which in turn can be transferred to your mouth, nose and eyes. Defeating the reason to wear the gloves in the first place.

When Covid 19 enters my local area we will be gloving up, masking up and we both have glasses to protect the eyes when out in public. We will keep our outer clothing and footwear,

that is worn outside in public, confined to our mudroom/ entrance for 3 days and not be touching it by naked hands at all in that time.

As we are in lockdown we go out once a week to restock food levels. Currently there is no Covid 19 in our area, but, we still wear gloves and masks as we have no idea until after the fact if we are being exposed to Covid 19. 72 hours covers the delivery time to the shops, who has handled it in that time?

Every item being brought into the home is wiped down just incase it is contaminated. Do not wash fresh food with soapy water as this is harmful to humans. Thoroughly wash it in water.

So I remove the mask with gloves ON, careful not to touch skin in the process then I wash the gloves in soapy water for at least 20 seconds before removing them. These items are set aside for 72 hours and if we need to venture out in that time again we use a second set of gloves and masks to ensure we are not transmitting the virus back onto ourselves. Don't forget to wash your face with soapy water for 20 seconds at least after dealing with the protection you have worn. If you have washed your gloves well then they can be worn again straight away.

Yes a little over the top but rather safe than sorry.

My first order of business is to protect the home, second order of business is to protect the wife and lastly do whatever I can to protect myself.

A final thought for those with pets that go outside, they too can carry the virus back inside. So try to restrict their roaming tendencies and give them a wash down if in doubt.

As you can see not a lot to panic about, just a few essential things we can do to protect yourselves as best we can.

If anyone is unlucky enough to contract Covid 19 seek help immediately and isolate yourselves from every one, partners and pets. Don't spread it.

An interesting note, CKD is on the high vulnerability list in this country.

Good luck all.