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.

@Givemeabreak88

That’s reassuring Redbrickwall It’s so worrying that it’s all been stirred up again, I’ve been confronted on the bus before by a man who only confronted me (not the two MEN not wearing one either) and he hounded me for the whole journey and didn’t care when I told him I was exempt, repeatedly.

That’s just awful. I’m so so sorry you went through that. He has also been to get petrol and had to go inside to pay. Nothing was said x

I cannot believe we are still having discussions where people think it's ok to demand the private and personal health and disability information of others.
The sunflower lanyard scheme was a brilliant idea, but now whenever I see it, I feel sad. It used to be a sign that someone may need small allowances/adjustments, but now it stands for "please don't abuse me in public".

I cannot believe we are still having discussions where people think it's ok to demand the private and personal health and disability information of others.

You mean like when disabled people apply for a blue badge?

I would like to think that the personal information supplied to the council for blue badges is protected by some degree of data protection and confidentiality. The same can't be said for having to show it to any old person who asks, Tesco staff/security guards etc.

@WetJan

I cannot believe we are still having discussions where people think it's ok to demand the private and personal health and disability information of others. The sunflower lanyard scheme was a brilliant idea, but now whenever I see it, I feel sad. It used to be a sign that someone may need small allowances/adjustments, but now it stands for "please don't abuse me in public".

Yes, this.

From the government guidelines issued to businesses. You can't be turned away.

I've been to the shops today and it's been fine.

Incidentally what a shame that once again a thread started by a concerned exempt person has turned into the usual 'wear a mask or don't go out' bollocks. I'm not getting drawn into it again but please, if you want to tell people with disabilities and health conditions to stay at home start your own thread to do it.

™

@FamilyOfAliens

I cannot believe we are still having discussions where people think it's ok to demand the private and personal health and disability information of others.

You mean like when disabled people apply for a blue badge?

I feel that will get shouted down for agreeing but this, why is it such a gdpr/personal issue to show a badge/exemption certificate. Surely the not wearing of a mask us indicatative of a health issue so why is evidencing that so inflammatory?

I feel that will get shouted down for agreeing but this, why is it such a gdpr/personal issue to show a badge/exemption certificate

There isn't an exemption certificate, such a thing doesn't exist

I feel that will get shouted down for agreeing but this, why is it such a gdpr/personal issue to show a badge/exemption certificate. Surely the not wearing of a mask us indicatative of a health issue so why is evidencing that so inflammatory?

'Why is it such a GDPR issue' to require people to disclose their extremely personal health information before they're allowed to buy a pint of milk or get on a bus?

Start here: ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/lawful-basis-for-processing/special-category-data/

Come back when you can show how all of these conditions have been met.

Come back when you can show that masks make so much difference that it's worth making people disclose their extremely personal health information before they're allowed to buy a pint of milk or get on a bus.

langinspace why are you always so rude to people asking a question? You don't own mn so people will come and go as they please.. your "come back when"..... is just annoying.
All I was asking is that if the general consensus is no mask=exempt, why not have a card like a bb that can show this to avoid the getting questioned at doors/entrances? A bb doesn't say why the holder has it does it so why would a mask exemption one?
Unless you feel no-one should wear a mask as they don't work.
Remember not every post is personally directed at you, sometimes people are just asking questions.

If an exemption card/certificate was in place it wouldn't have to give personal details, surely? A blue badge doesn't. If masks "don't work" why are they worn in hospitals?

Common sense shows that they can help to reduce the spread and they help to reduce the viral load.

Shops need to introduce an hour twice a week for mask exempt shoppers. That way they can all shop together. They have done this for elderly shoppers and even in the past for NHS workers.

They will need to persuade their staff to work those hours of course, but staff will only be at added risk for those two hours a week, not all the time.

This needs sorting, and this is the best way.

@LangClegsInSpace

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.

Well said.

@Haffiana

Shops need to introduce an hour twice a week for mask exempt shoppers. That way they can all shop together. They have done this for elderly shoppers and even in the past for NHS workers.

They will need to persuade their staff to work those hours of course, but staff will only be at added risk for those two hours a week, not all the time.

This needs sorting, and this is the best way.

How is it better in terms of community transmission to have hundreds of maskless people together in an enclosed space, rather than one or two?

How is it better in terms of community transmission to have hundreds of maskless people together in an enclosed space, rather than one or two?

It won't be better. It can never be better to have anyone maskless - that is what the scientific proof shows.

I have no idea whether one or two 20 times a day is 'better' than 20 or 40 all at once.

However it will solve the problem of proving exemption and it will solve the problem of the maskless being abused by members of the public and it will not tie up GPs etc in producing exemption proofs and certificates and supermarket staff having to decide whether they are real or fake.

It will also solve the problem of maskless people not wanting to explain that they have a disability because they feel that this is discriminatory.

it will also solve the problem of whether or not a shop has the right to completely exclude people who do not wear masks from their premises.

I cannot see a downside except to staff members and they are already being exposed by the maskless.

@Haffiana you genuinely can't see the reason why potentially hundreds of people potentially infecting hundreds of other people, then them in turn infecting those they come into contact with is less desirable than say, five or six doing the same?

And what about unscrupulous employers telling staff they have to work during maskless shopping hours?

[quote MerciSeat]@Haffiana you genuinely can't see the reason why potentially hundreds of people potentially infecting hundreds of other people, then them in turn infecting those they come into contact with is less desirable than say, five or six doing the same?

And what about unscrupulous employers telling staff they have to work during maskless shopping hours?[/quote]
I have no idea why you insist that potentially hundreds of people potentially infecting others a few at a time is somehow better than the same people doing so all at once?

Can you please explain why the risk is lower?

The majority of people who do not wear masks do not wear them because they don't believe in Covid or mask-wearing - not because they genuinely cannot wear a mask.

The thing is if you are TRULY exempt, it's not as if you are exempt due to a dreadfully embarrassing very personal health condition.

It's either going to be a breathing condition (which IMO you shouldn't be out anyway with a lung/breathing condition severe enough to prevent you breathing through a mask) or due to an anxiety or a learning difficulty/autism diagnosis or similar?

It's not as if they're asking you to show them a boil on your bottom when you're asked why you are exempt so I don't see the big deal?

The way I see it, you can't be exempt from wearing a seat belt in a car, or showing a blue badge when parking in a disabled space, or from wearing a hard hat/boots/safety glasses in certain jobs whatever your condition.

But for the small minority who truly, genuinely cannot wear a mask surely you would be happy to provide some proof - be that a letter showing your diagnosis, or your medication (eg inhaler) or similar.

I am asthmatic and wear a mask. If I genuinely couldn't I personally wouldn't go out at all, but if I did, I would be happy to show my inhaler as my reason for not wearing a mask.

I don't understand why others can't do the same.

'How is it better in terms of community transmission to have hundreds of maskless people together in an enclosed space, rather than one or two?'

They would socially distance, use gel?

Also, they'd see how it feels like for the rest of us. I am sympathetic to a point, I know Deaf and also disabled people who find face covers add to their already existing challenges but they wear a thin face cover or a visor because they understand it is a public health emergency and not, or shouldn't be, personal choice.

I have complex PTSD resulting from being choked and smothered by an ex who was unhinged sexually, and anything covering my face brings back flashbacks and I start hyperventilating until I feel like I am going to die. I found out about the sunflower scheme where you can get a lanyard with a badge stating you have hidden disabilities preventing you wearing a mask. In my local Asda there are staff members who don't wear masks but have the lanyard on show. I wear my lanyard and if anyone challenges me I simply explain the reasons why I have PTSD (and another mental health condition). Maybe doctors notes would be a better idea as the lanyards can a be bought online with no health questions, but for me I can tolerate about ten minutes in a mask then it has to come off. Many organisations recognise the sunflower scheme but on the cases where ignorance prevails, I have a scarf loosely wrapped around my nose and mouth, not enough to trigger the panic and feeling of being suffocated again

why is it such a gdpr/personal issue to show a badge/exemption certificate

Because there is no such thing as a mask exemption based or mask exemption certificate?

The thing is if you are TRULY exempt, it's not as if you are exempt due to a dreadfully embarrassing very personal health condition.It's either going to be a breathing condition (which IMO you shouldn't be out anyway with a lung/breathing condition severe enough to prevent you breathing through a mask) or due to an anxiety or a learning difficulty/autism diagnosis or similar?

So....when a bus driver challenges me what I should be expected to say out loud to a bus load of people is ‘awfully sorry, but a gang rape in my adolescence where 2 men gagged me and tied my hands behind my back and then removed the gag to take turns at putting their penis in my mouth whilst I repeatedly gagged makes wearing a mask a bit difficult for me’? I should be prepared to carry something that contains that information? Are you for fucking real?

"I have no idea whether one or two 20 times a day is 'better' than 20 or 40 all at once."

If there are only 1 or 2 people can keep their distance from people without masks. That becomes impossible if there are 50 in without masks.

And will you apply this to those shopping with children without masks who can also spread the virus? Or is it ok for them to be around others.

[quote XenoBitch]@GirlCrush would you rather a few fakers got to shop maskless, or would you rather see people who are genuinely exempt be denied access to shops?

I am exempt, I carry a card to say that. This new development scares me as I am due to go to Tesco on Friday for my shopping and also to pick up medication. If they deny me entry, I will be going without my meds.[/quote]
An obvious solution is change to a pharmacy that will deliver your medication?

I do appreciate there are a very small number of genuine reasons.
However I work in a supermarket and know for a fact that many people were just saying they are exempt because they are reluctant to comply, staff and customers. Now the store has cracked down there are less than a handful not wearing masks.

The ones that do my head in are whole families with adult children coming in with their sunflower lanyards, all talking loudly and taking no notice of social distancing...

'should be prepared to carry something that contains that information? Are you for fucking real?'

I'm so sorry for what you've endured . I hope you have support irl. Maybe a visor or a scarf pulled up would do. Those woolly snoods are loose yet would contain any coughed out infected particles?

@Haffiana

Shops need to introduce an hour twice a week for mask exempt shoppers. That way they can all shop together. They have done this for elderly shoppers and even in the past for NHS workers.

They will need to persuade their staff to work those hours of course, but staff will only be at added risk for those two hours a week, not all the time.

This needs sorting, and this is the best way.

With respect, that's a terrible idea. As you say, it is added risk for all, including the genuinely exempt having to share air with others without masks. It would also be abused by those who claim exemption falsely.