Stay at home and we’ll make sure you are fed, 1.5m vulnerable people told

Government unveils food parcels plan as measures to protect public from infection are stepped up

UP TO 1.5 million of Britain’s most vulnerable people will get free food parcels delivered as they are asked to shield themselves from coronavirus by staying at home for at least three months.

The taxpayer-funded food packages are to be coordinated by local councils, supermarkets and the Armed Forces and are designed to help those with serious underlying health conditions live the next 12 weeks in isolation to avoid being infected with the virus.

Announcing the scheme, Robert Jenrick, the Communities Secretary, said the 1.5million would receive letters or emails in the next couple of days telling them that they should stay at home because of the risk of “severe illness” if they contract coronavirus.

They include those being treated for cancer, those with conditions such as cystic fibrosis, severe asthma and heart disease, and pregnant women with heart conditions.

Mr Jenrick said: “I don’t underestimate what we’re asking of people. It will be tough. But if you are one of these people... I want to assure these people, on behalf of the Government, that you are not alone.”

The Government is creating a network of local hubs to deliver medicines to the most vulnerable and lonely people and to provide them with food. It is particularly targeted at those who may not have a network of family, friends or neighbours.

Groceries will be delivered by councils working with supermarkets with the support of the logistical skills of the Army, some of the “best military planners in the world,” said Mr Jenrick. The recipients will be able to order non-perishable food such as pasta, tinned meat, fish and fruit, flour and salt as well as sanitary products that have been hit by panic-buying.

Mr Jenrick said he hoped a service more bespoke to individuals’ dietary needs could be developed, while there could be opportunities for members of the public to help through volunteering. The parcels will be left on the doorstep to avoid any risk of contact with the delivery driver.

Officials trawled GP and hospital records to select the 1.5 million.

The letters sent via their GPS, will tell them to “stay at home at all times and avoid face-to-face contact for at least 12 weeks from today except from carers and healthcare workers who you must see as part of your medical care”.

Anyone living in the household is told in the NHS letter to use “social distancing” measures.

This involves keeping two metres away from each other, using separate towels and if possible separate bathrooms, sleeping in separate beds, minimising time in shared spaces including the kitchen and eating in their bedroom or elsewhere.

Where possible, those affected will receive regular text messages containing advice and guidance on how to manage their condition while at home, including having prescriptions delivered and accessing support for daily living.

With the death rate and numbers of cases rising, Mr Jenrick said that now was the time to “go further” to shield clinically vulnerable people.

“In recent weeks heroic workers in the NHS, social care and public services in local government have been shouldering the burden,” he said.

“I think we owe it to them and the most vulnerable in society to stay home, to protect the NHS and, by doing this, to save lives.

“And so today we have to go further to shield the most clinically vulnerable people to help save their lives.”

‘It will be tough, but I want to assure those people that they are not alone’