As the Omicron variant spreads rapidly, many clinically extremely vulnerable people in England are being forced to isolate in fear of their lives
Once a week at about 5.30am, Hayley Ashton pulls two masks over her face, sanitises a shopping trolley with her handbag disinfectant then takes a deep breath before stepping into the fluorescent glare of her local supermarket in Leicester.
These grocery trips feel for Ashton, a 33-year-old project manager who is immunocompromised and has severe asthma, like treacherous expeditions where she risks serious illness or death. “It’s the one area you just can’t control,” she said.
