Coronavirus Covid-19 and Diabetes Information

Grainne Flynn

16 March 2020

There has been a lot of concern, anxiety and questions about coronavirus COVID-19 in the diabetes community and lots of our organizations have responded quickly to these questions so I thought I would collate some of them.

Coronavirus COVID-19 and Diabetes

“In general, patients with diabetes are currently advised to follow the same guidelines as the general population when it comes to protecting themselves from the Coronavirus outbreak.” Diabetes Daily

The HSE have done a great job with providing the basics of protecting yourself from the virus. Please read here and encourage others to do what they need to do too.

Thanks to Diabetes Daily for pulling all of this information together for people with diabetes in relation to the Corona Virus COVID-19 including:

What can I do to protect myself?
Can the disease be transmitted via injections or finger pricks?
What should I do if I have symptoms?
How might blood sugar be affected if I get the virus?

Diabetes and working in retail: should I go to work?

There are a lot of queries from the type 1 diabetes adult community on advice when working in retail - should you go to work or should you stay home? Diabetes Ireland have offered some advice on this:

"For people with diabetes who are working in areas with frequent interactions with the public, there is no automatic need to stop working. You are advised to speak to your employer and ensure the HSE social distancing and protect yourself guidelines are implemented.

If you decide to not attend work for your own protection, your employer is not obliged to pay you. However, a person who self-isolates in accordance with the up-to-date guidelines from the HSE but does not have a medical certificate from a medical practitioner may apply for income support in the form of supplementary welfare allowance."

See full article here

Delays in meds and supplies from chemists

Again from Diabetes Ireland: “The Irish Pharmacy Union assures us that pharmacies will stay open and there is no issue with supplies, please see here.

“Currently, pharmacies have increased numbers of people attending for advice and prescriptions. Please assist them by ringing ahead and arrange a date and time to collect your prescribed medications.”

From Diabetes Ireland

Dealing with the lack of human contact

We are in this together - if you need human contact, remember that FaceTime, Skype, google meetings, etc all provide video with their calling facilities. It may not be the same as a real meet up but it’s an excellent substitute.

Raised anxiety around Coronavirus Covi-19

“some people are reporting difficulties sleeping well at night. That’s understandable, as some people have genuine worries about their family members and friends, young and old and those with medical conditions that could place them unexpectedly in harm’s way. The best antidote is facts. Arm yourself with solid information and of course reduce the risks through taking the well-publicised advice on hand hygiene, good respiratory etiquette and social distancing.” Fergal Bowers, RTÉ news

This has been my approach to dealing with my own anxiety around this: find solid reliable information and also focusing on doing what I need to do to protect myself and my family, my anxiety levels are quite a bit lower.