No more shielding for extremely vulnerable from 1 April, Chief Medical Officer advises

Those deemed clinically extremely vulnerable have been advised to shield since 22 December. Credit: PA Images

Those who have been shielding in Wales will no longer need to do so from 1 April, the Chief Medical Officer has advised.

People who are deemed clinically extremely vulnerable were advised to shield again on 22 December, when coronavirus cases began to surge.

But Dr Frank Atherton has said it will no longer be necessary in less than three weeks' time, due to falling case rates.

It comes as the First Minister announced further easing of lockdown restrictions, with the 'stay at home' rule being replaced by 'stay local' from Saturday.

Wales currently has the lowest coronavirus case rate of the four UK nations, according to latest analysis.

On Thursday however, Mark Drakeford said that people should be expecting to live with some form of restrictions throughout 2021.

Some degree of lockdown restrictions are expected to remain in place for the rest of 2021. Credit: PA Images

A statement issued by the health minister warned that shielders should also be prepared for advice to change again.

It read: "It is important to note that just as we are planning relaxations and the first dose of the vaccine has been offered to all of this group, experience has shown that we do need to be prepared to potentially step advice up again if required.

"The shielding patient list will remain in place and available should we need to ask anyone to follow shielding measures again in future. It is my sincere hope that this will not be necessary."

Some people expressed concern when shielding advice was lifted in summer last year, which saw food parcel deliveries stopped.

Who is on the shielding list?

Shielding was initially introduced between March and August 2020 when the virus was new and the Chief Medical Officer advised those most at risk to serious harm from coronavirus to stay at home to protect themselves.

The Welsh Government sent letters to more than 130,000 people on its shielding patient list, which includes those with the following health conditions.

  • Solid organ transplant recipients

  • People with cancer who are undergoing active chemotherapy or radical radiotherapy for lung cancer

  • 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 Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

  • People with severe single organ disease (e.g. Liver, Cardio, Renal, Neurological)

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

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

  • Adults with Down’s syndrome

  • Pregnant women with significant heart disease, congenital or acquired