UK Government will tell 1.4m people to self-isolate for 12 weeks from Monday

As of Monday, 1.4 million people in the UK will be told to self-isolate, as the Government looks to get stricter social distancing practices into place.

This will include the people who are most vulnerable to coronavirus, who will receive a message telling them to ‘stop all social contact’.

According to health secretary Matt Hancock, they will need to follow more rigid social distancing practices for 12 weeks.

He also detailed the people who would be asked to do this, including cancer patients and severe asthma sufferers, adding that further guidance will be provided over the next few days. 

Mr Hancock told Sky News: “We expect about 1.4 million people to get a communication from the NHS to say that they are part of this and what they need to do.

“Many of these people have pre-existing health conditions and so will be very worried right now, and I understand that, and they’ll need very specific sets of action – for instance, how do you go about still getting your chemo if you have cancer whilst also social-distancing?

“If you have cancer it’s particularly important to stay away from other people, but you also of course have got to keep going with your chemotherapy.”

The ‘most at risk’ group will receive further advice before Monday, either by letter or text message, and it includes anyone with cancer who is undergoing active chemotherapy or radiotherapy, or anyone with cancers of the blood or bone marrow, like leukaemia, as well as people with severe chest conditions like cystic fibrosis or severe asthma .

On top of that, people with severe diseases of body systems, like severe kidney disease, or anyone who’s received an organ transplant and currently on immunosuppression medication.

BBC

The health secretary added: “These are some of the most difficult and challenging cases so we’ll be getting in contact with them, but if people think that they are on this list and don’t receive a communication from the NHS, then they also need to get in contact.

“So that is under way, the money was announced for it yesterday. A combination of money to the NHS and money to councils because they’ve got a very big part to play in keeping people safe.”

Mr Hancock also urged people in the UK to follow the government’s social distancing advice, as life will return to normal much quicker if they do – and we might avoid ending up in the awful situation Italy is in right now.