Tuesday 12 May 2020

Playing a form of Russian Roullete with my life


Since March 9th week, expecting to receive an NHS letter requiring me to do so,  but relieved when I did not,  I have remained at home not going out for exercise, arranging for a supermarket delivery and for an online pharmacy to post  my medication.  


When it seemed there was going to be a change in approach in the position of those in the separate category of clinically vulnerable and those extremely vulnerable I decided to contact the General Practice where I am registered for advice. The response was




Thank you for your email.
There has been much confusion over which patients are the very highest risk and need to "shield" and those who are high risk and need to take care with social distancing.

Your respiratory condition, sleep apnoea and weight are chronic conditions, none of which fall into the "highest risk/shielding" category, but still put you in the vulnerable or high risk category.


You should be following this information -
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/full-guidance-on-staying-at-home-and-away-from-others

The fact that you use a CPAP machine is not the reason why the respiratory condition is not specifically mentioned. It just is not one of the listed conditions with or without CPAP.

It seems reasonable that you continue to remain at home whilst able to do so. However, it could be a long time before a vaccine is available. If you do need to go out for any reason then I would advise you follow the guidance to try and minimise your risk.

I hope this is helpful,



Yesterday morning the government withdrew its full guidance on staying at home by what is in the Command Paper- Our Plan to Recovery but which has not been adopted by the devolved governments in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales although I assume we all have the health issues to varying degrees divided between the two categories and where the United Kingdom government appears to be now playing a form of Russian Roulette with my life and those of others in similar position to me.

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