New coronavirus IBD web tool and info about risk levels

In these fast-moving events we know that many people have been worried about their health and wellbeing. We are all working very hard to bring you regular updates based on the latest medical knowledge and evidence.

Everyone must follow the Government's advice to stay at home. However, some people with Crohn's and Colitis may be at higher risk of severe complications from coronavirus and need to take extra protective measures. To help make this clearer to yourself, and to your doctors and nurses, the BSG and other experts have developed a new website tool.

The IBD Registry COVID-19 UK IBD Tool is a 15-minute online survey. You enter your health information and the survey results will indicate your risk level. The results will be available for you to download/save and this information.

The personal information you share will be kept securely, and only used for purposes relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. The website tool has a privacy statement about this. Please consider:

• Completing the IBD Registry COVID-19 UK IBD Tool and submit your results, so that your risk level is based on accurate, up-to-date information from you.
• Do this, even if you already know what risk group you are in.

This information will be sent to your hospital IBD team, helping them to be clear about which risk group you are in.

The online tool has been designed by the IBD Registry and the BSG - a large group of UK specialist IBD doctors to clearly assess people with Crohn's or Colitis. The online tool can really help your doctors to understand which category you fall into.

Some people taking azathioprine may have been contacted by the NHS telling them to not leave the house for 12 weeks (known as shielding). This message was sent to patients in England who take azathioprine, regardless of what condition they have or what dosage they take. The risk level you obtain through the new web tool is much more specific for those with IBD, and may differ for some people.

After the survey, please consider making a donation to the charity. We have received thousands of calls and emails to our helplines, as people contact us directly or are signposted to us by their NHS IBD team. We have also received well over two million contacts through our website and social media channels. We have postponed many of our fundraising events this year, and our income saw a significant 60% decrease in March as the pandemic spread across the UK.

To help fund our vital services we need support from the Crohn's and Colitis community - people like you. We want to make sure we are there for everyone, but we can only do this with your support. Whatever you can give will make a difference.

You can donate using our website or call us on 01727 73 44 85 during office hours.

Thank you - we are so grateful for your help. We will have more updates for you soon, as well as further activity to offer support and comfort to anyone affected.