I am on 3 immune suppressants can I still work

Tone1232

:/

Brynmor

Hi Tone1232 welcome to the online Community.

Our website has a dedicated page that has links to the latest information we have available:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/news/2020/march/coronavirus-covid-19-what-is-it-and-where-to-go-for-information/

There is a good page on assessing your risk to Covid-19. Our *Latest advice* is for everyone is to stay at home and only go outside for food, health reasons or essential work.

If you provide a little more information regarding the nature of your work and your level of risk then we can add more information links for you to consider.

Stay safe, stay well.

Brynmor

Tone1232

I'm a 61 year old postman driver with R/A , in close proximity to about 250 other people at work and visit 6 different post offices a day to collect mail so am in close proximity to 100s of people everyday, I am now self isolating as instructed by my doctor but would really like to be out & about, My wife works in a care home and is in & out the house as she is still working , so I'm not really safe from this Virus because even though we are taking all precautions my wife could potentially bring it home, so what's the point of shielding ?????

YvonneH

Hi Tone1232,

Lovely to meet you, I’m glad you’ve joined us.

You know the answer to your question, you’ve had a letter from your GP saying you should be shielding or being very careful about social distancing as you are more at risk of complications if you get COVID 19 than the population generally.

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

if shielding the following applies - from the above website

Shielding is a practice used to protect extremely vulnerable people from coming into contact with coronavirus.

You are strongly advised to stay at home at all times and avoid any face-to-face contact for a period of at least 12 weeks from the day you receive your letter. Please note that this period of time could change.

Visits from people who provide essential support to you such as healthcare, personal support with your daily needs or social care should continue, but carers and care workers must stay away if they have any of the symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19). You may find this guidance on home care provision useful. All people coming to your home should wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds on arrival to your house and often while they are there.

Your wife will need to be extra careful she is not putting you at risk, in a similar way to when she is at work with vulnerable people.

If you are in the group of extra careful social distancing you will still need to stay at home and be very careful who you have face to face contact with.

Currently keeping at least 6 feet away from everybody, washing hands often and staying indoors are the ways to prevent catching this virus. You may need to do this within your home as well. You must decide what you will do.

Take care

Yvonne

This means your wife will need to be extra careful

Tone1232

Really the best answer would be that my wife stays at home aswell, so then the chances of infection would be greatly reduced but unless either of us becomes infected that can't happen , unless we lie, and say we have symtoms so really its a game of chance everyday,,, anyway..? Thanks Yvonne for your response.