Disability Rights UK has criticised the Government for its latest Coronavirus ‘lockdown’ guidance, which they say has left ‘extremely vulnerable’ people unsure what to do.
A second ‘lockdown’ is now running from 5 November to 2 December. New guidance has been issued to shielders, who can register or update their details register to get access to priority supermarket deliveries or ask for someone to contact them about any local support that’s available, but it falls short of the fuller protections offered back in the Spring.
More categories of ‘vulnerability’ have been added to the previous shielders list of 2.2 million people for this lockdown, including people with Down’s Syndrome and Chronic Kidney Disease stage 5 (CKD5).
DRUK’s Fazilet Hadi said: “The bitter irony of the Prime Minister insisting in his address to the nation that it would be a “medical and moral disaster” if the country did not go into lockdown is not lost on us. The fact is, morally, the government has left addressing shielders until the last minute during this lockdown. The support offered is disjointed and not ‘oven ready’. And medically the government has failed to ensure that non-Covid related medical treatments will continue to be made available with ever increasing waiting times, resulting in nearly 13,000 extra deaths to date, not related to the virus. New guidance has been issued to shielders. But this time, the government is advising people it previously regarded as so vulnerable as to maintain strict shielding, to basically carry on as per the new normal but at a distance.
There is less support from supermarkets for food deliveries this time round – we know that some have changed their terms and conditions, which will affect shielding disabled people on low incomes. And we know there is a waiting period once new shielders sign up for home delivery help. What do they do in the meantime? “
You can find out more about support available locally on our Coronavirus Information and Support Page .
