Coronavirus (COVID-19): shielding support and contacts

Overview of 'shielding' 

Shielding is a measure to protect people who are clinically at high risk of severe illness from coronavirus. People who have been identified as needing to shield should:

• not leave their homes
• keep 2 metres away from everyone, even those they live with, avoiding as much face to face contact as they can

It is up to individuals whether or not to follow these measures. However, the Chief Medical Officer strongly urges that they do.

Changes to our shielding advice

We are asking people to keep shielding until at least the end of July. We will continue to support those who are shielding until at least the end of July.

If infection rates in Scotland are low enough, we will announce a change to our guidance on 18 June 2020. If it is safe to do so, we will advise that those shielding can start to leave their home to be active or to exercise outdoors. This advice will not yet apply to those who are shielding and living in a residential care or nursing home.

We will confirm any changes to our advice in the Scottish Government’s daily coronavirus briefing on 18 June . We will also send a text through our SMS Shielding Service and update this guide.

Like everything this will be kept under review. If infection rates increase and it is felt that it is  no longer safe for people who are shielding to go outside then this decision wil be reviewed. However, if we are confident that infection rates remain well-controlled, we will consider further changes to our advice.

We know that, even with this change, shielding is hard. At the moment, it’s still the best way for those in the highest risk group to stay safe from coronavirus.

Why we are doing this

Our advice is based on evidence and is agreed by our clinical and scientific advisory groups.

On 8 June, we published Shielding: a way forward for Scotland. It explains, in more detail, why we are now looking to change our advice on going outdoors. It also gives reasons for asking people to keep shielding until at least 31 July.

We do not plan to ask people to shield forever. However, it will take time to move to a new approach.

How shielding might change in the future

We want to make sure that people have the information they need to fully understand their individual risks. We want to support people who are shielding to make informed choices about the things that are important to them.

We hope this will help people to decide things like whether to go to the shops or ask family and friends to visit. This will help people take back more control over their lives while still staying safe.

Over the summer, we will work towards:

• giving people updated clinical evidence about their conditions and what that means for their risk from coronavirus
• helping people to understand the changing infection rate in their local area
• giving this information in a way that people can access and is helpful
• giving access to support to help people make informed choices about their lives
• support people to put their choices into practice

Keeping up-to-date with changes to shielding

We will keep giving updates, so that people know what is happening and what to expect.

We will contact those who are shielding about any changes to our advice before the end of July. This will be by letter and through the SMS Shielding Service to send updates to their mobile phones.

Contact the national COVID-19 helpline on 0800 111 4000 if you need support with shielding.