And yes it says those of us who have medical exemptions will remain exempt, but no idea how we’re meant to prove it. Now I have to be fearful of being turned away from doing my food shop.
Sad to say, your ‘reward’ for suffering from a medical condition(s) will be suspicion, aggression and abuse. Everybody will be paranoid. I have a persistent cough that I’ve had for years (quite probably connected to a more serious condition) and I’ve been fearful even with that of living my life normally and coughing because of the conclusions it could make people jump to.
I'll happily wear one, yet as a deaf person I'll wear a huge humiliating sign around my neck saying I cant understand a word you say so please dont talk to me. Popping into my local shop for a few things we run out of is the only time I actually get to speak to another human being outside of my household.
I’m fortunate enough not to have any hearing problems and I still struggle to understand shop assistants who are wearing masks. Apart from isolating people who are deaf and hard of hearing, this will very likely lead to their being challenged and even threatened by the hard of thinking when they don’t respond or have to walk away none the wiser even after asking somebody to repeat what they said 10 times to no avail. To a deaf person who relies on lip-reading to communicate safely, this is pure wanton government-backed discrimination. We don’t allow pet dogs in shops, but we do allow guide dogs, because we realise that any hygiene risks they may pose are of a lesser importance than the safety and dignity of blind people. With deaf people, though, there are no concessions that can be made, because it would be everybody else who would need to not wear masks to enable them to be treated equitably.
It’s already been stated many times, but for however many lives are saved connected to COVID, the much greater lasting cost will be to people’s mental health, anxiety, loneliness, social isolation, depression etc - and there will be/have been suicides as a direct result.
On a ‘lighter’ note, though, some people in the community will benefit: this ruling gives thieves the clear message that all you need is a good full-face covering, a hoodie and the ability to run fast and you can pretty much have whatever you want, free of charge, and nobody will be able to identify you. In normal circumstances, you can be asked to remove your motorbike helmet or balaclava, but any shop workers doing this now will themselves risk prosecution for breaking the law and not you.