We're here to help - council begins contacting residents newly advised to shield

The Government announced on Tuesday that an additional 1.7 million people nationally were expected to be added to the 2.3 million already shielding and advised to stay at home. This is because they have been identified as being at increased risk of becoming seriously unwell from Covid following new research commissioned by the Chief Medical Officer.

In Sunderland an initial 3,854 residents, who weren't previously on the shielding list, are expected to start receiving letters from the Government from today onwards advising them to shield because of a combination of their individual characteristics and their underlying health conditions.

This means they will be asked to stay at home as much as possible and only go outdoors to exercise or to attend essential health appointments for the next six weeks until the end of March. They are also being advised to keep all contact with others to a minimum.

Sunderland City Council will also begin contacting residents it has been advised have been added to the shielding list from today to make sure that they are ok and see if they need any support.

Cabinet Member for Healthy City, Councillor Kelly Chequer, said: "We know this will be a challenging time for people in our communities who are being newly advised to shield, so this is about being there for them, checking that they're ok and seeing if they need any support from us.

"Although many of our residents will have their own support networks, others may need help with things like shopping and collecting their medication and we want them to know that we are here to support them. We can also help them with registering on the national shielding system which will give them access to things such as priority supermarket delivery slots. Registering on the national shielding system will also enable the NHS to make contact and ensure that residents get their Covid vaccination booking at the appropriate time in line with their priority need.

"This builds on the work we have been doing throughout the pandemic to support residents previously advised to shield with the help of our own staff, our fantastic VCS partners and our wonderful volunteers who came forward in their hundreds when we first asked for their help last year."

Because calls to residents newly advised to shield may begin before national letters arrive, the council is proactively letting residents know through media, social media and other channels that these calls are not scams but here to help and that they will not be asked for any bank details as part of the call. The council will also be following up its calls by writing directly to the newly added residents.

Support continues to be available to those already shielding, asked to self isolate or feeling vulnerable by visiting www.sunderland.gov.uk/coronavirus or calling 0800 234 6084 between 8.30am-5pm.