THE government is advising those considered to be at increased risk of severe illness from coronavirus to be especially stringent in following social distancing measures.

These measures are intended to reduce social interaction between people and ultimately curb the transmission of the virus.

The Prime Minister issued new advice on Monday for those considered to be especially vulnerable to the virus.

Public Health England chief medical officer Chris Whitty said those people must stay at home for 12 weeks.

The UK government has now issued a full, updated, list of those who they deem to be high risk.

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They are:

Pregnant women

For the first time pregnant women are being included in the 'at risk' group and are asked to exercise additional caution.

Mr Whitty described this as "a precautionary measure" because "we are early in out understanding of this virus and we want to be sure, [so will include] women who are pregnant".

There is currently no clinical evidence to suggest that the virus can be transmitted through breast milk although infection can be spread to the baby in the same way as to anyone in close contact with you.

Public Health England says the benefits of breastfeeding outweigh any potential risks of transmission of the virus through breastmilk.

People aged 70 or over (regardless of medical conditions)

Mr Whitty said: "This is a quite large group of people who are over 70 (and possibly quite healthy). We know that older people are at greater risk but that doesn't necessarily mean that they will get it worse."

People under 70 with an underlying health condition

The government have now issued a full list of underlying health conditions which could contribute to a person being deemed 'high risk'.

These are:

  • Anyone instructed to get a flu jab as an adult each year on medical grounds
  • Chronic (long-term) respiratory diseases, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema or bronchitis
  • Chronic heart disease, such as heart failure
  • Chronic kidney disease
  • Chronic liver disease, such as hepatitis
  • Chronic neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), a learning disability or cerebral palsy
  • Diabetes
  • Problems with your spleen – for example, sickle cell disease or if you have had your spleen removed
  • A weakened immune system as the result of conditions such as HIV and AIDS, or medicines such as steroid tablets or chemotherapy B
  • eing seriously overweight (a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or above)

Public Health England also says there are some clinical conditions which put people at even higher risk of severe illness from Covid-19 and that those people should "rigorously follow the social distancing advice in full".

People falling into this group are those who may be at particular risk due to complex health problems such as: 

  • people who have received an organ transplant and remain on ongoing immunosuppression medication
  • people with cancer who are undergoing active chemotherapy or radiotherapy
  • people with cancers of the blood or bone marrow such as leukaemia who are at any stage of treatment
  • people with severe chest conditions such as cystic fibrosis or severe asthma (requiring hospital admissions or courses of steroid tablets)
  • people with severe diseases of body systems, such as severe kidney disease (dialysis)