From Thursday 5th November another national lockdown in England will start in response to a steep rise in case numbers of COVID-19. The new measures will require people to stay at home as much as possible, and to limit social contact between households, but schools, colleges and universities will remain open
Whilst It is obviously a really good thing for children to be in school, if at all possible, we realise that this will cause anxieties for families who have children with an suppressed immune system due to the medication they are on.
Unlike the initial national lockdown, people who are clinically vulnerable are not being asked to shield, in light of concerns that social isolation has been detrimental to people’s mental health.
A message from the CICRA Trustees
As we enter a new period of lockdown, with restrictions affecting most of us, we want to assure families, and especially those who have children recently diagnosed with Crohn’s or Ulcerative Colitis, and those who will be diagnosed during the coming month, that CICRA will be here throughout this period to support them all in whatever way we can, so do please call on 020 8949 6209 if you think we can help.
Unfortunately, it is not easy to give general advice to parents as to whether children on immunosuppressants should be in school or not as the condition and medication can affect each child very differently. Parents should have received guidance from a member of their IBD team but if in any doubt about the health of their child they should contact their IBD team as soon as possible. Please do not go the to the hospital before being asked, but if you do have to visit for any reason be assured that the hospital will have done everything to make that area as COVID secure as possible and the team will be there to help you.
CICRA cannot give medical advice, but Laura our Family Support Worker is here if you want to talk through anything else at all or maybe just unload your anxieties. Should Laura not be available Jayne or Margaret will be here so please do not hesitate to call on 020 8949 6209. We will all be working from home most of the time so there may be a slight delay as calls are being diverted but if you do not get an answer please leave a message or email support@cicra.org and we will respond just as soon as we can.