Official’s advice on resuming of shielding leads to clarification
Department rows back on declaration by top adviser after anxious responses from public
THE Department of Health last night rowed back on a declaration by a top health official that shielding is to resume in Northern Ireland.
It comes after a dramatic evidence session at Stormont’s health committee yesterday where Northern Ireland’s chief scientific adviser gave a briefing on the pandemic response to date.
“The intention is that everyone who was shielding previously, given the current state of transmission of the virus, would be advised to shield again until the level of community transmission of the virus falls significantly, and that would be regardless of the age of the individuals,” said Prof Ian Young.
“I think that there may be further communication going out in relation to that, in terms of clarifying the situation. I would believe that employers wishing to do the right thing should accept previous shielding letters as indication that somebody needs to shield until such time as any further communication is resolved.”
His comments prompted a flurry of anxious responses on social media from members of the public and charities that support vulnerable members of society.
However, a spokesman from the Department of Health subsequently issued a statement to clarify that the latest advice differs from the advice that was originally issued to clinically extremely vulnerable people in March last year.
It recommended that anyone advised to shield adhere to strict measures, including staying indoors at all times and limiting contact with members of their household.
A statement released l ast night said: “Prof Young was referring to the updated advice to clinically extremely vulnerable people issued just before Christmas — with a commitment that letters from the chief medical officer would follow. Some of these letters have already been received.
“While not a return to the shielding advice in place in the early part of the pandemic, the updated Northern Ireland advice does mirror the latest advice in England.”
Sinn Fein MLA Colm Gildernew, chair of the health committee, last night described the confusion over the issue as “regrettable”.
“It is slightly different revised advice and it is regrettable that people who are vulnerable have felt confused and unclear about the advice,” he said.
According to the latest guidance, clinical extremely vulnerable people should avoid going to shops, pharmacies and hospitality settings. They should also work from home where possible.
The measures were put in place on December 26 but updated information has not yet been sent out to all the 90,000 people who were told to shield last June.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland looks set to remain in lockdown until March at the earliest as Prof Young revealed his fears that Covid-19 will still be out of control at the end of February.
Professor Young has given the clearest indication yet that the draconian restrictions put in place to stem the surge in Covid-19 cases will not come to an end on February 6.
The Executive Office announced on Tuesday that the additional restrictions would be reviewed on January 21 and will remain in place until February 6.
However, speaking at the health committee yesterday, Prof Young said he expects virus levels to remain “significant” at the end of February.
Prof Young also revealed that a failure to implement the latest lockdown would have resulted in Northern Ireland’s health service being overrun by patients for three months. And he warned that hospitals will experience a surge in patients at the end of the month.
It comes as a further 1,985 cases and 13 deaths were announced by the Department of Health yesterday.
During yesterday’s committee meeting, Prof Young came under fire from Sinn Fein MLA Pat Sheehan, who said the strategy put in place by Prof Young, Health Minister Robin Swann and chief medical officer Dr Michael Mcbride to respond to the pandemic had “failed miserably”.
The CSA said: “Do I wish we could have done better? Absolutely. Would there be decisions which I could have been taken differently looking backwards? Without a doubt.”
When asked to expand further by Mr Sheehan, Prof Young continued: “So, I think that right towards the beginning of the epidemic, on a Uk-wide and Ireland-wide basis, there might have been some merit in taking action around travel at that stage, before the virus had become very well established in the country, that’s one thing.
“I think certainly that we would l ook back and t hink might have been done differently although those are policy decisions, they would have been informed by advice.
“I wish that we had got the testing developed more rapidly and rolled out more rapidly given all the limitations of it because I think more testing earlier in the epidemic would have been very helpful in terms of trying to keep it under control.”
‘Prof Young was referring to the updated advice to clinically extremely vulnerable people issued just before Christmas’
Health Minister Robin Swann gave further numbers around the vaccination programme in Northern Ireland: