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Around four million people in England and Wales who have been asked to shield during the most recent coronavirus lockdown, will be able to take fewer precautions from Thursday.

Under the government guidelines shielding comes to an end on 31 March. Scotland and Northern Ireland are expected to lift their restrictions later in April.

However, people who had been told to shield are still being advised to keep social contacts at low levels, work from home where possible and stay at a distance from other people.

Though unless advised to stay at home by their doctor, all children should be back in school.

Shielding was never compulsory and it is still up to a person's individual choice to decide to do it .

It was introduced when lockdown first came into force in March 2020, and came to and end in August last year.

Shielding meant that people were being advised to take extra care.

The advice was to stay at home at all times, apart from going out to exercise or attend a medical appointment, to try to keep all contact with others to a minimum and avoid busy areas.

If you went out, you were advised to maintain strict social distancing, wash your hands regularly and avoid touching your face.

It was all to protect people who were most vulnerable from catching Covid-19.

People identified as being clinically extremely vulnerable were advised to shield to avoid contracting Covid-19 because they are considered more at risk of needing hospital treatment.

They include people who have had certain health issues that put them at risk.

But with falling numbers of Covid cases and hospital admissions the government think it is is safe for the guidance to be relaxed.

Anyone adults who have been shielding on the advice of their doctor was offered a Covid vaccination before the general population.

In the UK about 90,000 people shielding are under 18. Children will only be removed from the list by their GP or specialist doctor after discussions with the child and their family.

Guidance from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health - specialists in children's medicine - says that most children or young people with conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, and kidney disease do not need to be on the shielding list held by the NHS.

Once children no longer need to shield, they can go to school, college or nursery.

Children who live with someone who is clinically vulnerable, but aren't themselves, have been told they should go to school too.

Shielding guidance is due to end on 1 April in Wales, where more than 130,000 people are staying at home.

In Scotland, shielding is due to end on 26 April, when adults will be able to return to work and further education and children will be able to go back to school.

In Northern Ireland, medically-vulnerable and older people are still advised to be particularly careful in following the recommendations on limiting contacts. The Executive has not yet set a date for when this guidance will change.