Covid’s back, you say? As disabled and vulnerable people know all too well, it never went away | Frances Ryan

The government's policy is to pretend we're getting back to normal'. The result is millions of us live in fear of losing our lives

It is 1.35pm and I'm having to explain coronavirus transmission to a nurse. I am due an appointment at 2.30, and I've been phoned because I say I'm clinically vulnerable. I ask whether the nurse has an N95 mask (as they're proved to be most effective). She does not. I ask whether she and the team are taking weekly lateral flow tests, like her colleague said. She is not, and is unsure why that was promised.

We don't need to do that any more," she says breezily. What she means is: she has no official duty to do so any more. Clinically vulnerable (CV) patients still need" the Covid-19 protections. They just don't get them.

Frances Ryan is a Guardian columnist