Infection risk: If people with cancers, asthma and other conditions are having to go out for shopping, or people living with them are, then they are still under risk of infection. And they are dying.

Is this the reason people with severe health issues are missing out on shopping deliveries from supermarkets and other priority services in the coronavirus crisis?

Read for yourself:

Thousands of people have been missed off the government’s high risk list for Covid-19 despite meeting the criteria.

Among them have been transplant patients, people with asthma and some with rare lung diseases.

Many are worried it will affect their ability to access food and medical supplies as they shield from the virus, unable to leave their homes for at least 12 weeks.

Supermarkets have been using the list to give priority to vulnerable customers, meaning those not included have already missed out on opportunities for which they would have been eligible.

NHS England provides a list of people who should be “shielded” from exposure to the coronavirus. It includes:

• 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 six months, or who are still taking immunosuppression drugs

Other conditions:

• 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 Writer’s brother has had myeloma and has been ordered not to leave his home at any time, for any reason. But he hasn’t heard a dicky bird about help from supermarkets.

Mrs Mike’s best friend has four children, three of whom have asthma. They haven’t heard anything about extra help because of their conditions.

And I see online that people with asthma are dying:

Lindsay Marshall had self-isolated for one week but on March 22, she started to feel unwell and was taken to Fairfield General Hospital in Bury where she tested positive for the coronavirus.

Three days later, she was sedated and transferred to the intensive care unit at Royal Oldham Hospital, where she died on Saturday (April 4).

It seems clear that people with such conditions are in more danger but the government is increasing the risk by keeping them off the list of people deserving extra help.

Why?

Source: Coronavirus: ‘High risk’ list misses off thousands of people – BBC News

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