Informing the public health response to COVID-19: a systematic review of risk factors for disease, severity, and mortality

Table 1 UK risk groupings for COVID-19 disease on 30th March 2020

At risk of severe illness		Shielding
Aged 70 or older (regardless of medical conditions)
Aged under 70 and^a
	Chronic (long-term) mild to moderate respiratory diseases, such as asthma, COPD, emphysema or bronchitis	People with severe chest conditions such as cystic fibrosis or severe asthma (requiring hospital admissions or courses of steroid tablets)
	Chronic heart disease, such as heart failure
	Chronic kidney disease	People with severe diseases of body systems, such as severe kidney disease (dialysis)
	Chronic liver disease, such as hepatitis
	Chronic neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease, motor neurone disease, MS, a learning disability or cerebral palsy
	Diabetes
	A weakened immune system as the result of conditions such as HIV and AIDS, or medicines such as steroid tablets	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
	Being seriously overweight (a BMI of 40 or above)
Those who are pregnant

Data taken from sources [9,10,11]. ^aThese groupings represent individuals advised to get a yearly influenza vaccine as an adult for medical reasons. BMI body mass index, COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, MS multiple sclerosis

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