Coronavirus: Extremely vulnerable advised not to go to work from Thursday - BBC News
The advice for people at higher risk from Covid-19 is to stay at home as much as possible for a month.
Clinically extremely vulnerable people in England are being strongly advised not to go to work outside their homes during lockdown from Thursday.

Under updated government guidance, they should only go out for exercise and to attend health appointments.

People with stage-five chronic kidney disease, those undergoing dialysis and adults with Down's syndrome are now also advised to follow the advice.

This group is at higher risk from Covid-19 than the general population.

The government will give local councils in England more than £32m to fund support and access to local services for more than 2.24 million clinically extremely vulnerable people.

They include people undergoing treatment for serious medical conditions, such as certain cancers, or those with rare diseases.

This number could rise by 80,000 over the next few weeks, as NHS England sends letters to those affected.

New national restrictions will apply to everyone in England from 00:01 on Thursday, 5 November, until Wednesday 2 December.

An online support service has been set up to help people in this group access supermarket deliveries and other local support.

Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation said the guidance was "a step forward" but had given people less than 24 hours to prepare for the changes to their lives.

"While it's good news that furlough is still an option for some, it is very late in the day for people to be having this discussion with their employers and there is no guarantee that everyone who needs it will be able to access it," said Sarah MacFadyen, head of policy.

She said it was vital that no one was left without essentials and delivery systems were easy to access.

The over 70s, pregnant women and people who are very obese are not included in this group - they are classified as clinically vulnerable. They may still be more at risk of Covid-19 and are advised to stay at home as much as possible and minimise contact with others.

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