Coronavirus (COVID-19): shielding advice and support

Overview of shielding

We are asking people in the shielding group to take extra steps to lower their risk of catching coronavirus. It is up to individuals whether to follow this advice. However, the Chief Medical Officer urges that they do.

Who this advice applies to

This advice applies to most people who have been asked to shield. This includes those who are pregnant. It also includes any children and young people who have been asked to continue to shield.

It does not apply to anyone living in a residential care or nursing home. Your care home should be following the Care Home Visiting pathway.

We advise anyone shielding because you are waiting on a solid organ to strictly follow this guidance. Please also contact your transplant team to discuss if this advice is right for you.

Current advice

Our advice is to keep shielding until 31 July 2020. From Friday 24 July, you can choose to:

• meet indoors with up to 8 people from 2 other households with physical distancing
• meet outdoors with up to 15 people from 4 other households outdoors with physical distancing
• use public transport wearing a face covering
• go to pubs and restaurants with outdoor spaces
• use formal childcare providers – this does not apply to children who are shielding

You can also choose to go into shops and leisure venues, wearing a face covering. This includes:

• shops, pharmacies and indoor markets
• hairdressers, barbers and other personal retail services
• museums, galleries, libraries, cinemas and other visitor attractions

This is in addition to previous guidance on:

• stopping physically distancing from the people you live with or who are in their extended household group
• using toilets in other people’s homes and allowing other people to use yours at home
• travelling further than 5 miles from home, as far as you want
• booking all types of holiday accommodation or travelling to a second home – this can now involve people from another household
• visiting outdoor public gardens

This is because we expect that the levels of infection in Scotland are low enough for us to do this.

We will be sending a letter out to you before the end of July. This will explain what will happen when shielding is paused.

Helpline

The national COVID-19 helpline puts people in contact with their local authority. You can call 0800 111 4000 for free. It is open Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm. The helpline will remain open even when shielding is paused.

SMS Shielding Service

We will continue to send you updates through the SMS Shielding Service. You might not need the service right now but signing up will help you keep up to date.

We are developing a COVID forecasting service for shielding. It will allow you to sign up to an SMS update that tells you about your risk of being exposed to COVID in your local area. We will provide more information on this soon.

The service will carry on for as long as it’s needed. As will the national helpline. If these services are no longer needed, we’ll give you plenty of notice that they are ending.

To sign up, text the service your 10 digit CHI number. You can find the mobile number and your CHI number on the letter you have received. Do not include any other information. The Service will then check your CHI number against out records to confirm you are on the shielding list.

The SMS Shielding Service only accepts text messages. It does not take voice calls. It cannot respond to questions. It can only respond to your texts with pre-programmed replies.

If you need to speak to a person, please call the helpline.