Isolated from the outside world - how months of shielding is taking its toll on thousands of people in Sheffield

There are 13,000 people in Sheffield who are shielding - those with serious medical conditions or on treatment which suppresses their immune system. They are more likely to become seriously ill if they catch coronavirus

Shielding - a new word for the dictionary - started last March with advice to distance from family members in the same household, even to the extent of living in a different room. Many found it unsustainable.

After five months, the Government said it was no longer necessary before reintroducing it in January. This time the more realistic advice allows people to exercise outside with family or support bubbles.

Most shielders have been cooped up for a total of seven months but some haven't ventured further than their back garden for almost a year.

It's been an emotional time. Shielders are already coping with complex health issues so there's a heightened fear of catching Covid - not just the symptoms of the virus but how it will affect their other conditions.

Some have struggled to work while staying at home 24/7 and those living in multi-occupancy homes or flats have felt even more vulnerable.

There's envy at other people's freedom and a loss of independence as people rely on family and deliveries for everything they need.

It's also impacted on those living with shielders as they need to keep contact with the outside world to a bare minimum. Children are unable to see a friend in a park.

Stocksbridge councillor Fran Johnson caught Covid last spring and has been suffering serious ill health since. She's asthmatic and is shielding as she's desperately worried about catching Covid again.

The hardest part for her is the impact on her six-year-old daughter. "It's really tough and anybody who's shielding with kids knows it's the impact on them as well.

"I could take it if it was two adults, it's not fun but you could get on with it, but with kids it's so hard for them. You feel guilty because as parents you're dealing with all these emotions on top of an already very difficult situation.

"It affects their behaviour, she's only six and she can understand part of it but it's still very difficult to understand the full implications."

Even with the vaccine, there's no end to shielding in sight. "There are no concrete answers and that's very tough.

"We're seeing new variants and we're not sure how the vaccines deal with those so that is a major concern and we're constantly dealing with things like this cropping up."

Respite has been walking in a quiet part of the Rivelin Valley but she misses the small social interactions with other people.

"You have such brief interactions in shops and cafes but they are so important for people's mental health, just a quick chat about how you're doing and what's been going on. You really see the value of those things, they're so easily underestimated."

Coun David Baker has been shielding due to being in remission for prostate cancer. His wife Penny, a fellow Stannington councillor, has also withdrawn from the world to protect David.

"I'm feeling a bit down and out," admits David. "I'm very frightened, if someone knocks on the door I panic if I'm less than six foot away from them. I'm very unhappy."

David says a lack of information has made shielding more difficult. In the first lockdown, people were contacted by both GPs and hospitals but gaps in the system meant not everyone was initially offered support and food parcels.

David said that confusion has continued during this latest lockdown. "Last time around I got a letter to say I was entitled to food parcels, which we didn't need, but nothing has happened since then. During this lockdown I've had no letters so if I'm no longer considered a shielder, that's wonderful but please can someone tell me."

Penny remembers clearly how shielding began.

"We'd been on a first trip away to see our daughters on March 15 and we knew something was wrong, we were checking emails and the news as we came up the motorway, and we said this is worse than we thought.

"We went in the house and David has never been back out, other than three walks. I took a couple of days to get us some food in because we'd been away for 10 days and since then, apart from two more walks, I've not been out either. We've done everything remotely.

"We had little information so we were anxious about it and very aware that we needed to make sure everything David would need was in place."

Penny says they have filled their time with council business, gardening and doing jobs around the house but Christmas was particularly difficult not seeing family.

The roll out of the vaccines is light at the end of the tunnel but shielders are still advised to isolate until their second vaccine.

Will there be a public health impact of shielding as exercise is limited, as is shopping for fresh food and people struggle with loneliness and anxiety?

Many will be apprehensive about returning to the outside world. Getting on a bus or shopping in a supermarket will be a huge step for people who have been confined for so long.

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We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.