serious question.. help!

[Iron_Stark_24]

Right. So..
I feel I am in a massive diemma, not being given a lot of information on what options I currently have, so please bear with me as I ramble on here..

Basically, I work in retail. I am classed as one of these 'key workers', and I have pretty much worked since this all began.
BUT, 2 weeks ago, after contacting the correct professionals due to feeling greatly unwell, struggling with ketones etc, I was advised to self isolate. I was not showing any signs or symptoms of the coronavirus, but I was told it would be in my best interest to self isolate. I completed my 2 week self isolation, and today returned to work.

After serving a customer who was T1 herself, I feel a little bit lost and confused. She expressed how she was in the same situation as me, and had to self isolate for a few weeks. But then went on to say, she was later advised to do the whole 12 weeks isolation, despite not recieving any government letter or whatever. She said I should be doing the same? SHOULD I BE DOING THE SAME?! 😱

I have not recieved any letters or anything advising me on what I have to do, and as a T1, I feel a little worried and scared, maybe a bit nervous and anxious - what am I doing here.. naming dwarves?! - about all this, and even though I do feel I should not be working through this time, like, WHAT DO I DO?

Can I go to my managers and say I am self isolating for 12 weeks? Do I need some sort of 'letter; to hand over, so that I am able to do this without the worry of losing my job or missing out on money?

Can someone please help me out! MUCH APPRECIATED.

 

[trophywench]

We don't know anything about the other lady, medically speaking - for instance maybe she had a road accident years ago and lost her spleen, or only recently finished a course of chemo - or anything.

I'm Type 1, over the years (I'm 100% sure it was me!) I've given myself a degree of emphysema and also hardening of the arteries via smoking. I had my 70th birthday just the other week and because of all of that I am therefore classified as 'vulnerable' as I would still have been were I you.

However neither of us is classed as 'Clinically extremely vulnerable' - whereas my husband is, because his normal lung function is only 50%ish on a good day. This thing can cause loss of 50-odd% of your lung function, ie he'd be fantastically lucky if he survived it and hence, we are BOTH locked down for 12 weeks at least he by the Law and NHS and me with him by our adult daughters.

But you are not.

 

[Sally71]

No diabetes alone does not mean you need to do the complete 12 week isolation, it depends whether you have any other medical issues as well. My mum has been advised to do the 12 weeks isolation but I think that is more because of her asthma than diabetes. We have received no such information; my daughter doesn't go out much anyway so is almost isolating herself as it is, but isn't forced to do so. We have been advised to be extra careful with social distancing as much as possible but don't need to isolate.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

No need for anyone with ‘regular’ diabetes to fully self isolate @Iron_Stark_24

If you have any other complicating factors or additional conditions, or if you are concerned about your individual circumstances you should check with your GP who can discuss it with you and advise, but the official advice for people with diabetes is just to follow the regular ‘social distancing’ advice here:

[Withdrawn] Staying at home and away from others (social distancing)

www.gov.uk

It’s a bit buried on there, but there are mentions for anyone who cannot work from home, and links to extra advice for ‘keyworkers’