The single most important action we can all take, in fighting coronavirus, is to stay at home in order to protect the NHS and save lives.
You should only leave the house for one of four reasons, and one of these is to provide care or to help a vulnerable person. Even when you are doing this, you need to do this safely. You should minimise the time spent outside of the home and ensure you are 2 metres (6 feet) apart from anyone outside of your household.
The coronavirus pandemic is impacting on everyone’s daily lives – and when lots of things change at once it’s easy for people to feel overwhelmed.
Public Health England has published new advice on taking care of our mental wellbeing to help keep us feeling good and functioning well. The advice, available at https://bit.ly/2UPUT8d, covers everything from staying in touch with loved ones, helping and supporting others, talking about worries and managing difficult feelings to looking after your physical wellbeing, keeping your mind active, getting a good night's sleep, developing a new daily routine and setting goals to create sense of control and purpose. There is also information about managing physical symptoms triggered by stress and anxiety, and advice for people with specific mental health needs, people with disabilities and people living with dementia.
Every Mind Matters – www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters – provides advice to start taking better care of your mental health, including 10 simple things people can do to deal with anxiety about the coronavirus outbreak.
The City of Wolverhampton Council has also launched its Stay Safe, Be Kind campaign offering clear and simple advice about how people can help themselves, and how they can support others who may be particularly vulnerable at this time. Stay Safe, Be Kind includes information about safe at home and looking after your physical and mental health, and will be regularly updated with local and national resources to support you. For more information, please visit www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/stay-safe-be-kind.
We have been made aware of some inaccurate information circulating (especially on social media) regarding special ‘rescue packs’ of antibiotics and oral steroids for patients with pre-existing respiratory conditions such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (or even for those who don’t have these conditions).
Thousands of letters are being sent out to vulnerable people who are registered with a Wolverhampton GP to provide them with essential advice and guidance to help them stay safe during the coronavirus pandemic. The City of Wolverhampton Council and Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning group is writing to everyone aged 70 and over in the city, and to under 70s who are living with a long term condition. Thousands of letters are being posted and will be landing on doormats over the coming week.
Our GP surgeries are working hard to ensure that they can continue to safely provide local people with access to services when you need it. To keep you and our healthcare staff safe, our GP Practices are having to change some of their services temporarily.
It is really important that you do what you can to help us to help you during this unprecedented time. Please do not attend your GP surgery unless you have an appointment and please do not contact them unless absolutely necessary. Here you will find an overview of these changes, and how this might affect you.
It's important to know that you are not alone, you can access support through one of the helplines.
Surviving Economic Abuse have produced some guidance that looks at keeping yourself safe while self-isolating, as well as practical issues including benefits and sick pay.
Support is available from Women's Aid's online chat service, open from 10am-12pm Monday-Friday
Chayn provides online tools, information, courses and support for people experiencing abuse, all free to access. Their Soul Medicine courses provide bitesized support, delivered in disguised emails at a time that you choose.
They are also launching a secure Telegram channel to provide particular support during this time.
If you need to secure your devices or clear your browsing history after accessing support, take a look at Chayn's DIY online safety guide.
Making your voice heard
We want to ensure that your voice is being heard by us, policymakers and the wider world during this time. If you can spare a couple of minutes, please fill in this very short survey to help us tell the Government what people experiencing abuse need right now. Your response will be completely anonymous.
Feeling connected and looking after your wellbeing
To read uplifting and empowering words from other survivors, sign up to Voices Together – our newsletter written by and for survivors of domestic abuse
Call 999 if it’s an emergency or you’re in immediate danger.
Helpful links