Why are you feeling angry?
Because for a very long time there has been a lack of information.
We still have no idea when shielding will end, because we do not know what the conditions are for that, nor what new scientific knowledge there is to say who should be shielding or for how long. The letter I received says to shield for "at least twelve weeks," which takes it to June 16th. But all recent government information says it ends on June 30th (in England) but that has never been communicated.
We feel ignored and the first time we received any sort of update on shielding was when a question from a member of the public was chosen on Thursday at the press briefing. The information we were given then is that it is still dangerous. Not enough to know what to expect, but at least it was something.
Then on Saturday evening, by a tweet, suddenly we are being told it is safe. By a housing minister who has just been revealed to have acted unlawfully to help a party donor avoid a large tax bill. Contradicting the statements of the Chief Medical Officer only a few days previous. With every medical organization unable to offer any advice because they had not idea this was happening. How can we trust anything the government says if this is how they act regarding information on our health and our lives?
We ere never obliged to not go out, shielding is entirely voluntary. And it is very hard. But we did it because it was the right thing to do for ourselves and others. Certainly in my case, my original motive for following the advice was because the entire effort of the country was to avoid overwhelming the health system and I did not want to be responsible for wasting an intensive care bed. I made that effort knowing it would have damaging effects to me because it was the right thing to do. Because I trust the medical advice that if I did catch the virus it would have difficulty fighting it.
As of now, because of the behaviour of the government, we have no idea what the medical advice actually is. In my case there are three charities covering my conditions and not now of them knows what is going on to offer specific advice. Doctors have no idea what is going on to be able to offer advice. And the government, at yesterday's briefing, said the situation is still dangerous that shielding will likely be extended yet it is also safe to ignore shielding. How is anyone supposed to make sense of that?
That so many public health experts are critical of the government's actions and do not support them. That the Chief Medical Officer says the infection rate is still high, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer says the situation is very dangerous. That the government are treating our lives as some sort of political capital. Saying we can safely go out when, to any independent observer, this is untrue. When it is physically impossible to follow social distancing in urban area making their "good news" a P.R. stunt that has no benefit for many of us.
That is why I and many others are angry with a rushed announcement devoid of any medical or scientific justification, which leaves us no better off that we were. We already could choose to go out, all the government have done is use us to get headlines.