Cancer sufferers can’t return to normal
One in five people living with cancer in England say they will not be able to return to normal life on so-called “Freedom Day”, despite the success of the UK vaccine programme.
Out of an estimated 2.4 million people living with the condition in England, 21 per cent said they could not enjoy day-to-day activities until new coronavirus cases had stopped being reported.
According to research by Macmillan Cancer Support, 3 per cent (around 70,000 people) did not think it would ever be safe for them to return to the way their life was before the pandemic.
It comes as the remaining coronavirus restrictions in England are lifted today, marking the return of major social freedoms.
The Government has been criticised for the blanket easing by charities, including Macmillan, which have called for more to be done to support the clinically vulnerable.
A group of 37 experts,
including some of the UK'S leading haematologists and immunologists, has issued a joint statement expressing concern that Government guidance for the clinically extremely vulnerable is too broad to be useful for people with blood cancer.
Lynda Thomas, chief executive of Macmillan, said continuing basic infection prevention measures to help vulnerable people to feel more comfortable was "not that much to ask".
She said: "The use of the word 'Freedom Day' makes it feel definitely not like freedom day and they're feeling anything but free right now."