From 1 August, the government will pause shielding unless the transmission of COVID-19 in the community starts to rise significantly.

This means:

• the government will no longer be advising you to shield
• If you were receiving Government food box deliveries they will stop
• you will still be eligible for priority supermarket slots (if you have registered by 17 July)
• NHS Volunteer Responders will carry on delivering the food you buy, prescriptions and essential items to you if you need it
• Leeds City Council can still help with food parcels, shopping and picking up medicines. If you need help, you can contact the Leeds Coronavirus helpline on 0113 378 1877
• And you can still call Caring Together for any advice or support you need

You may still be at risk of severe illness if you catch coronavirus, so stay at home as much as you can and continue to take precautions when you do go out. You can do this by washing your hands regularly, avoiding touching your face and keeping 2 metres away from people outside of your household or bubble wherever possible.

If you have been following all the shielding guidelines since March then it is natural that you may feel a little nervous about these changes so please only make changes at a pace you feel comfortable with.

More details on the gov.uk website https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19

Local advice and information is available at https://www.leeds.gov.uk/coronavirus/advice-for-shielded-residents

Postponement of other lockdown easement

The further easing of lockdown restrictions in England – due to come in this weekend – has been postponed for at least two weeks, due to concerns about coronavirus rates

This means that the following will not be able to take place until 15 August, at the earliest:

the reopening of casinos, bowling alleys, skating rinks and remaining close contact services
indoor performances
pilots of larger gatherings in sports venues and conference centres
the expansion of wedding receptions to allow up to 30 people
beauty treatments that involve the face, such as eyelash, eyebrow and threading treatments

In addition, face coverings will become mandatory in more indoor places such as museums, galleries, cinemas and places of worship

Last night the government annouced new rules for parts of the country with high infection rates, effective from today.  This is NOT directly applicable to Leeds, but does include Bradford, Kirklees and Calderdale, so anyone who has friends or family in that area needs to be aware of them.

From today, the rules for the affected areas mean that people from two households are not allowed to meet indoors or in a private garden, unless they are part of a support bubble.  So, you should not visit anyone in this area and they should not travel out of the area to visit you at home.

More details about all the rules and also the full list of affected areas is here:  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/north-west-of-england-local-restrictions-what-you-can-and-cannot-do.

Please be reassured that Leeds still has a fairly low infection rate so there doesn’t seem to be any immediate prospect of a similar lockdown in the city and these measures will hopefully stop the spread in those areas with higher rates.