We wanted to keep you informed and updated regarding the Government guidance for those aged 12 and over with weakened immune systems. We thought this may be useful to you when working in a social care setting.

The following advice on ‘keeping yourself safe’ is aimed at adults. Children and young people can continue to attend education settings unless their clinician has advised otherwise.

We recommend that you those with weakened immune systems avoid meeting with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 (and anyone in their household) until 10 days after they received a positive test. Try to avoid people who have symptoms of COVID-19 or other respiratory infections and have a temperature or feel unwell.

The NHS is offering new monoclonal antibody and antiviral treatments to people with COVID-19 who are at highest risk of becoming seriously ill and are 12 years of age or above. Some treatments are suitable for people aged 12 to 17.

The list is regularly reviewed and currently includes some people who have:

• Down’s syndrome.
• Certain types of cancer or have received treatment for certain types of cancer.
• Sickle cell disease.
• Certain conditions affecting their blood.
• An organ transplant.
• Certain autoimmune or inflammatory conditions (such as rheumatoid arthritis or inflammatory bowel disease)
• HIV or AIDS who have a weakened immune system.
• Inherited or acquired conditions affecting their immune system.
• Rare neurological conditions: multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, Huntington’s disease or myasthenia gravis.

Testing:

On 1 April 2022 the government changed its policy on COVID-19 testing in England. Patients eligible for COVID-19 treatments will still be able to access lateral flow tests from the government but they will no longer be automatically sent PCR tests. If you were previously sent a PCR test you can keep it, but do not use it unless asked to do so by your NHS team.

Those most vulnerable will be sent one initial pack of lateral flow tests to keep at home. This is a test they can do at home and can be used to find out if they have COVID-19. If these have not received by 11th April, they are available to order a pack at GOV.UK or 119 if needed.

If you would like to discuss the above, or about how we can collaborate, please let us know. To get in touch, email [email protected] or call us on 03305 552233.

As a specialist, family-run recruitment business, we provide a proactive and consultative approach to recruitment within Social Care. We help organisations to target issues such as continuity of staffing, reducing spend where you have a high volume of agency usage and supporting those who have specific talent requirements or are in hard to fill locations. We can help with any immediate staffing requirements or longer-term recruitment projects to ultimately save you time and money on agency spend.

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