What are the lockdown rules for over-70s and why is there confusion?

Even the health secretary seems unclear over the government’s different instructions to different groups, writes Jon Stone

There is no 'blanket' prohibition on going out for over-70s (Getty)

The health secretary was met with confusion at the weekend when he tweeted that “the clinically vulnerable, who are advised to stay in lockdown for 12 weeks, emphatically DO NOT include all over-70s”.

Matt Hancock said there was no “blanket” rule applying to older people, which some people thought had contradicted previous government advice. The government’s website appeared to show something different. But what actually are the rules and why were people confused?

Did Matt Hancock make a mistake?

He did make a mistake, but there is truth to what he’s saying. Hancock is wrong to say that over-70s are not automatically in the “clinically vulnerable” group – they are listed as such on the government’s website on a webpage updated on 1 May.

But the government has actually defined two similar-sounding groups: those who are “clinically vulnerable” to Covid-19 and those who are “extremely clinically vulnerable”. Over-70s are automatically in the first, but not the latter – and there is an important distinction.

What is the “clinically vulnerable” group all about?

If you’re “clinically vulnerable” the government advises you to “take particular care to minimise contact with others outside your household”. It doesn’t give any more specific advice than this and it’s been widely interpreted as simply taking the normal lockdown rules that apply to everyone more seriously.

These rules that apply to everyone are to stay at home except to infrequently buy essentials, exercise once a day, give care, and while out and about to stay two metres apart from everyone, avoid gatherings or meeting people, and to wash their hands after touching surfaces.

The “clinically vulnerable” group that needs to pay extra attention to these rules includes not just all over-70s, but also people with underlying health conditions like asthma, COPD, emphysema, heart disease, kidney disease, and diabetes. It also includes pregnant women and those who are significantly overweight, or have a weakened immune system.

What about the “clinically extremely vulnerable” group?

This group is more select: it includes organ-transplant recipients; people with specific cancers, severe respiratory conditions and rare diseases; those on immune-suppression therapy, and some pregnant women with heart complications.

These people should not leave the house at all, and they should register with the government for assistance – this process of full and total lockdown beyond what others are doing is called “shielding”.

All people in this group should by now have been sent a letter by the government explaining the situation.

Was there any other reason people were confused?

Yes – in March when lockdown measures were coming in, Matt Hancock said on television that over-70s would be asked to go into full lockdown to “shield” for months, but the policy never actually materialised in this form.

But apart from that you can probably forgive people for not noticing the distinction between the two groups with similar names but different instructions – especially given the health secretary seemed to confuse the two groups himself in his tweets.

So what are the rules for over-70s?

It depends! All are deemed “clinically vulnerable” and being advised to “take particular care to minimise contact with others outside your household”. But only those who fall in the “extremely clinically vulnerable” group because of additional serious health conditions need to totally shield and not leave the house for any reason.