While a three-week lockdown sounded never-ending at the time, 3.7 million people in England living with underlying diseases or pre-existing chronic health conditions were told to stay home and shield themselves for 12 weeks. Their only access to the outside world was to open a window.
Those at high risk, deemed CEV (clinically extremely vulnerable) by the government, were told to shield themselves until the programme ended on April 1 2021. However, about 800,000 vulnerable people in England were still shielding late last year, according to the latest available data published in November by the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS).
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