New rules for pregnant women, the over-70s and 'clinically vulnerable' have been released by the government.
Boris Johnson published his 50-page plan setting out the government's Covid-19 recovery strategy for England.
This includes limited changes to some lockdown rules from Wednesday in England.
According to the government, it 'remains the case' that some people are more clinically vulnerable to coronavirus than others.
These include those aged over 70, those with specific chronic pre-existing conditions and pregnant women.
But whilst the rest of the nation starts to see a relaxation of the rules, the clinically vulnerable are asked to continue to take particular care to minimise contact with others outside their households.
However, they do not need to be shielded.
Those in the clinically extremely vulnerable group are strongly advised to stay at home at all times and avoid any face-to-face contact.
This means they should remain inside their house and not attend any gatherings - this is due to the current level of transmission of the virus.
What the government is doing to help those shielding
- Providing essential food to those unable to leave their home - hundreds of thousands of more food boxes are to follow in the coming weeks.
- The government has also arranged priority access to supermarket deliveries for those who have said they need it.
- Facilitating volunteer support. Up to 200,000 calls a day have been made to the shielded in England to confirm their support needs, 28 and councils are helping to support them in otherways - including, in some cases, organising regular calls from volunteers to those isolated.
- Those who are shielding can also directly request the support of NHS Volunteer Responders.
