How to prove exemptions?

[Givemeabreak88]

Does anyone know how you can prove that you are exempt from wearing a face mask if drs are refusing to give letters? A lot of the shops are now refusing entry unless you are wearing one. I try to shop mostly online but sometimes not always possible.

The only way I can prove it is to cover my face and go into distress. Not exactly ethical or hygienic.

The GP doesn't have a clue because all I could actually do is send an online form reporting that I frequently have breathing difficulties of some sort of humidity/ sensory/ anxiety kind of trigger. All I'm doing is telling the GP the same way that I'm telling MN. Not really proof! I suppose there's a chance that they could invite me in for an appointment to hyperventilate at them...

It was not a practical problem before 25/7/20.

Do you have a letter with a diagnosis on?

My ds has a lanyard with the exception card I printed.

What problems are people having with a regular supermarket delivery that requires them to go shopping without a mask? Sainsbury's has launched a £1 slot and in my area there are slots available 3-4 days in advance. This cheap slot is a 4-hour window (4pm to 8pm for example). It's not as if we're going anywhere in the evenings... Can people ask for suggestions on here if they're struggling to get a week slot. The collective hive will have suggestions.
My uncle has COPD and can't cope longer than 2-3 mins with a mask - especially if he's walking. But with an estimated 1 in 15 people in London having Covid, why the hell would he go into a shop??
He takes a walk around the block for exercise daily without fail, whatever the weather.

www.frylaw.co.uk/archives/articles/face-masks-the-definitive-guidance/

I feel so sad that people are being mad to feel this way.

I feel sad that the piss takers are making it so difficult for people who are genuinely exempt. I think there needs to be a proper system in place that doesn't make the exempt person feel singled out, but prevents the self entitled from taking the piss.

Haha....not going to 'go away'....as if!!!

I fail to see what is remotely funny about this. These are real people in distress about how to carry out be essential activities and they don't need yet another person goading, judging and now apparently finding it funny.

I have been avoiding going to the shops and getting as much as possible online, but wore my lanyard to fill up with petrol at Morrison’s and had to go in as the pay at pump wasn’t available and also went to Pets at Home. There was a warm welcome at both and nobody commented or asked. Please don’t be anxious OP, even if you don’t have a lanyard, you just need to say you’re exempt and nobody should question you.

💐 thank you @MaxNormal

Evenstar I'm sorry things are so hard just now, I only hope all this eases soon for everyone struggling and suffering.

I think I will order the lanyard and carry my diagnosis letter, that’s going to have to be enough I think. Just worried about members of the public starting on me there’s so much anger on my local Facebook page. They think anyone not wearing a mask is just faking it. Like I said I try to shop online as much as I can anyway but sometimes things are beyond our control like I ran out of nappies for my youngest the other week and I couldn’t just not get them. the bigger supermarkets are a few weeks away where I am and although Iceland’s have been good (2/3 days) they don’t sell nappies!

'The government need to allow GPs to issue some sort of exemption letter - by email would do it, so people could have it on phones if they didn't want to carry it.'

It isn't about the gov needing to allow GPs to do it, they really have enough to do work wise.

Op if you can't tolerate a thin face cover, a visor, a loose scarf or snood pulled up then just print off an exemption note from the gov site. It is a contentious subject because not one person likes wearing them but nor do I like being stood near someone in a shop who can't/won't wear one. I don't challenge anyone or stare but perhaps it is best to go when shops are extremely quiet early morning or later on for everyone's sake.

MaxNormal Thank you, honestly just going to ignore that poster from now on I think some people just want an argument/debate. I’m really worried about going outside now due to the absolute venom I’ve seen from people about those of us not wearing masks even though we are genuinely exempt

I feel sad that the piss takers are making it so difficult for people who are genuinely exempt.

I see this kind of comment again and again but it's not true.

The piss takers increase the risk of infection for everyone else (but only a bit because masks only make a small amount of difference). Beyond that, they don't really make it more difficult for people who are exempt.

What makes it so difficult for people who are genuinely exempt are businesses that have discriminatory policies, overzealous policing and most of all, the self-appointed mask police.

'I’m really worried about going outside now due to the absolute venom I’ve seen from people'

People are scared, we don't want to walk through potentially infected droplets. That is no excuse for 'venom' of course but perhaps show others the understanding you are expecting. It is cold weather now, perfect for wearing a woolly scarf and just pulling up when you pop in a shop maybe that would be a solution?

If you have your diagnosis letter then that should be fine, I would expect most supermarkets to accept you telling them you are exempt, however if they don't you have the letter just in case.

@GirlCrush

why would you want to put staff at risk.....they likely serve 10,20,30 maskless customers a day.

why do people think thats acceptable?

This. A local to me shopkeeper died last week. Please don’t shop without a mask, use online, ask a neighbour or mutual aid group, click or collect or even the night kiosk at a garage.

What makes it so difficult for people who are genuinely exempt are businesses that have discriminatory policies, overzealous policing and most of all, the self-appointed mask police.

I still think they are doing this because of a minority of self entitled piss takers. Two perfectly healthy people I know who work in food shops have been off work with covid. Both of them have told me of the number of people who wear masks under their noses, or don't wear a mask and don't cover their mouths when they cough. They have no doubt that they caught covid from work.

On Jeremy Vine yesterday this was mentioned many times.

but nor do I like being stood near someone in a shop who can't/won't wear one.

I don't like being stood near someone in a shop full stop, whether they're wearing a mask or not. People seem to have become utterly, irrationally fixated on masks when at best, they only provide a small reduction in risk.

Your suggestions that OP should try wearing 'a thin face cover, a visor, a loose scarf or snood' are even more irrational. What on earth is that supposed to achieve?

The single, most effective, easiest to enforce, way of making shops safer would be to strictly limit numbers so nobody has to be stood near anybody else.

Why is it always about the masks?

@Springcatkin

Well I asked the police when they put on the Trafford centre page that people must be prepared to provide proof of exemption and they said that just saying you are exempt should be enough as no one has to provide written proof. I think if I was refused entry to my local Tesco I would ask to see the manager and explain the position and if they still refused would ask them to tell me how to make a formal complaint of disability discrimination. But I accept I can be a bit bullish about it as it annoys me .... I too get my meds from Tesco in store pharmacy.

I think you can get prescription medication delivered to your home, can’t you?

@Springcatkin

I think you can get prescription medication delivered to your home, can’t you?

I also go to Tesco for my medication... I go there to shop anyway. 2 birds with 1 stone and all that. Going to the shop is my only bit of normal in my life at the mo and I am not going to give that up, not when I am so close to giving up myself.

[quote XenoBitch]@Springcatkin

I think you can get prescription medication delivered to your home, can’t you?

I also go to Tesco for my medication... I go there to shop anyway. 2 birds with 1 stone and all that. Going to the shop is my only bit of normal in my life at the mo and I am not going to give that up, not when I am so close to giving up myself.[/quote]
I mentioned it because someone upthread said if they didn’t go to Tesco pharmacy, they would have to go without their meds. I thought it was a good suggestion for avoiding that happening.

OP, you can get nappies on Amazon.

I still think they are doing this because of a minority of self entitled piss takers.

They are doing it because masks are immediately visible and they want someone to blame for the clusterfuck we find ourselves in.

There are loads of piss takers. You can't tell if the perfectly masked person next to you has just picked their nose and not washed their hands, or if they went to a secret party a few days ago, or if they've got symptoms and haven't been for a test or if they've been told to isolate but have gone to the shop anyway ...

There are far, far greater risks than someone not wearing a mask and which are not much mitigated even if someone does wear one. We can't see those things though and we can't control them.

The basic issue is being with other people in indoor spaces, full stop. The more people in the space, the closer you are together, the poorer the ventilation, the greater the risk. Masks or no masks.

We're social creatures with lifestyles built around gathering together in public places and businesses need a certain throughput of customers to remain profitable. How convenient and psychologically comforting it must be to imagine that being with other people in indoor spaces could be safe, if only we could exclude The Unmasked.

Masks probably do make a bit of difference, so you should wear one if you can, but fixating on other people's mask wearing behaviour is a massive distraction in terms of risk and shits all over disabled people.

I know you can get them on amazon, I needed them that day, I thought I had an extra pack but I didn’t.

and fwiw I tried coop who actually cancelled my order, which they seem to do a lot, though it’s only a small one near me which I guess is the reason.