Q & A So what is the plan for over-70s – and when can I stop shielding?

QI am in my 70s, and perfectly healthy but guidance on social distancing for people like me seems to change endlessly. What exactly do I need to know now that things seem to be improving?

AThere are really two confirmed facts that are worth understanding which underpin all this changing guidance.

Firstly, whatever data you scrutinise, the risk of getting severe Covid-19 increases with age. This is the same for many illnesses, from flu to cancer, but it is a clear risk.

Secondly, despite the agerelated risk, the majority of cases at any age will always be mild to moderate: even in the over-80 category, more than 80 per cent of those who get Covid-19 will get it mildly.

However, no matter what easing of lockdown occurs from today – if any – social distancing and hand-washing remain vital for the over-70s as we must reduce the risks from being in close contact with family and friends as much as possible.

Even if it starts to feel that the lockdown is easing, these risks will remain and can’t be ignored.

QI have a pre-existing health condition which means that I’ve been told to ‘shield’. Will I have to continue with this, even when the lockdown ends? I’m going slightly mad already.

AIsolation, of course, has a massive impact on mental health, and this has to be weighed up against the benefit of avoiding the virus.

Data newly published from 17million patients’ records in the UK does confirm that the groups who have been told to shield are at greater risk from severe illness and hospitalisation.

So while it has been a traumatic and painful period for more than a million people who are shielded, it was the right decision.

And as lockdown eases, it is likely that changes will be very slow and that those who are shielding will be asked to do so for the full 12 weeks from the start of lockdown.

Easing of shielding will be gradual and until we know the transmission rate of the virus in the community it will not be safe to allow the most vulnerable in our communities to be put at risk.

QI feel utterly miserable, and exhausted, even though I’m not doing much. I really can’t see the point of going on if things are going to stay like this. What’s the point of being alive if you can’t actually live your life?

ASadly, I’m hearing this kind of thing more and more. It is depressing, being confined.

Some psychologists have even described what some people are experiencing as a sort of grief: for the life we want to be living, for what we have lost and for what we feel we could continue to lose in the future.

This is worsened by the uncertainty: will I or someone I care about get ill, will they die, and on a much bigger level, when will this end?

If lockdown is affecting your state of mind, ensure you are sleeping and exercising daily, as well as talking to at least one supportive friend each day, if that’s possible.

And remember that GPs at your local surgery WILL be available to consult by phone or video on mental health if you are feeling low and hopeless. There are excellent resources they can refer you to online for therapy at this time.

QAm I allowed to look after my grandchild when my daughter goes back to work?

AThe guidance around children is evolving but at this stage babysitting grandchildren would still not be advised.

The medical data very clearly shows that children have, in the main, been unaffected by the virus and most likely do not spread it on to grandparents.

But we still cannot be sure. While in Switzerland hugging grandchildren under ten is now allowed, in other countries the experts disagree as we just don’t have the full data yet.

A day of babysitting is very different to a quick hug, allowing repeated opportunities for the virus to spread.

Risks could be reduced by plenty of proper hand-washing, keeping apart as much as practically possible and even wearing face coverings.

The official advice is, I believe, that you may babysit – but only if it is absolutely necessary.