TS and the current situation with Coronavirus

We have received many calls and messages over the past few days from those in the TS community with concerns over the Coronavirus and TS, and we hope we can offer some reassurance. After consulting with the TA medical advisor, we have been assured that having TS gives the same risk as all of us of actually catching Coronavirus, but does not result in any higher risk of becoming seriously ill.

Thankfully, children do not appear to be as sick with the virus as older people or those with serious, underlying medical issues such as respiratory conditions (like asthma), diabetes, heart problems and other serious medical conditions such as cancer. There will be a few people diagnosed with TS who may also have severe learning difficulties/autism or schizophrenia, whose overall health status may make them more vulnerable, but having TS does not affect your immune system.

If you are still concerned, you are advised to check with 111 online or your consultant/GP.

The team at Tourettes Action will all be working from home for the foreseeable future and hope to continue to offer support with as little disruption as is possible. We have changed our helpline opening hours as follows:

Live chat: Instant support via our website available Monday to Thursday 10am – 3pm
Contact the Helpdesk: Send contact form and we will get back to you
Helpline telephone 0300 777 8427: available every Monday 6pm - 8pm and Thursday 9am - 2pm and 6pm - 8pm
Request a callback: leave a message on 0300 777 8427 and we will get back to you
(we will endeavour to get back to you within 48 hours)

Education

For those who have children home from school and who may be struggling, please get in touch with our Education Manager, Lucy Toghill  at lucy@tourettes-action.org.uk who can offer help and support. We are working hard to bring you some useful resources and information about managing expectations around home learning and TS. We hope to have these available by the end of this week so please keep an eye on our social media pages and website.

In the meantime, we have many useful resources available on our website including free, downloadable factsheets on anxiety, sleep problems, depression and OCD which are symptoms that are likely to increase in these worrying times.

We wish you and your friends and families all good health and hoping that things will soon improve for everyone.

Kind regards

The Team at Tourettes Action