Sadly I've known people say they won't go anywhere on public transport due to this mandate; for example:
.... Because of the mask regulations, I've not used public transport at all....
...is the reason we didn't meet
@davetheguard on our recent trip to Devon.
Reasons for exemptions include:
www.gov.uk
This includes (but is not limited to):
- children under the age of 11 (Public Health England does not recommend face coverings for children under the age of 3 for health and safety reasons)
- people who cannot put on, wear or remove a face covering because of a physical or mental illness or impairment, or disability
- where putting on, wearing or removing a face covering will cause you severe distress
- if you are speaking to or providing assistance to someone who relies on lip reading, clear sound or facial expressions to communicate
- to avoid harm or injury, or the risk of harm or injury, to yourself or others ‒ including if it would negatively impact on your ability to exercise or participate in a strenuous activity
- police officers and other emergency workers, given that this may interfere with their ability to serve the public
However I've known several people withdraw from events because they don't feel comfortable being exempt; this may be due to feelings of guilt, or worries over being challenged, or other reasons.
I'm not exaggerating when I say some transport operators will literally refuse to carry exempt passengers and will make angry threats against people who stand up for people with conditions, disabilities etc. Unless someone actually takes a case to court, such behaviour will continue. This further undermines the confidence of people who are exempt, which can result in people feeling excluded from society.
I know of people who find wearing face coverings cause distress but many of them feel that nor wearing one causes anxiety, which I believe is due to a lack of understanding in the part of some people regarding mental health and wellbeing, and an assumption that only obvious physical disabilities quality for exemption.
I've been the victim of a distressing theft due to a thief being able to cover their face without suspicion. I cannot get back what I lost and I cannot easily forgive the authoritarians for this. I also know I'm not alone and brazen crime will continue due to the normalisation of hiding faces.
I'm yet to hear an authoritarian supporter of the mandate properly address these issues. They tend to make things worse by trivialising distress and anxieties. But that's not surprising as authoritarians generally seem to lack empathy.
Indeed so. Would you be able though to point me in the direction of the exemption that says ‘if you don’t believe in masks, then don’t wear one?’
I’m not saying that such an exemption doesn’t exist, I’ve simply asked the original poster and
@yorkie to clarify.
I don't understand why there should be any onus on me to clarify?
Nevertheless I have provided a non exhaustive list of exemptions above.
If a person purely didn't believe in the effectiveness of masks but was not in any way distressed, anxious to do so, then there is no cause for exemption on that basis.
I assume that you have decided not to wear your mask now?
You can only promote mass civil disobedience if you’re willing to take part.
I'm confident there will be a combination of two things occuring if masks don't get dropped in four weeks:
1) lower compliance / people simply not wearing them (mass civil disobedience); and
2) people who are covered by exemptions feeling the confidence and/or perhaps motivation/inclination to travel without wearing a face covering.
However it was a prediction rather than a promotion! Apologies if I didn't make that clear; it was posted in response to a genuine concern regarding what I personally deem to be a very unlikely outcome (
"masks becoming permanent on public transport")
Others are welcome to have differing predictions and it will be interesting to look back in a few weeks time.