Originally Posted by
kbooks66
I don't mean to be rude, I am more curious than trying to criticize. I am from the US and have been in London for several weeks and have witnessed several arguments on the tube about exemptions to the mask requirement. In the US we don't have any medical exceptions (generally, some more conservative states may) to mask requirements but there seems to be widespread exemptions here. What medical conditions are they allowing to be considered for an exemption? The only ones I could think of would be some sort of skin condition which would make the straps or the mask itself irritate you. I know at the beginning in the US people were trying to claim asthma and other breathing disorders, but generally those are the people that at least in the US are considered should wear a mask, because the impacts of covid (at least the original pre vaccination strain) really impacted.
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Wearing of Face Coverings) (England) Regulations 2021 define "reasonable excuse" from the mask requirement as follows
Reasonable excuse
5. For the purposes of regulations 3(1) and 4(1), the circumstances in which a person (“P”) has a reasonable excuse include those where—(a)P cannot put on, wear or remove a face covering—
(i)because of any physical or mental illness or impairment, or disability (within the meaning of section 6 of the Equality Act 2010(1)), or
(ii)without severe distress;
(b)P is accompanying, or providing assistance to, another person (“B”) and B relies on lip reading to communicate with P;
(c)P removes their face covering—
(i)to avoid harm or injury, or the risk of harm or injury, to themselves or others, or
(ii)to receive medical treatment;
(d)P is entering or within a relevant place, or travelling on a public transport vehicle, to avoid injury, or to escape a risk of harm, and does not have a face covering with them;
(e)if it is reasonably necessary for P to eat or drink, P removes P’s face covering to eat or drink;
(f)it is reasonably necessary for P to remove P’s face covering to take medication;
(g)a person responsible for a relevant place or for a public transport vehicle or an employee of that person acting in the course of their employment asks P to remove their face covering in order to verify P’s identity;
(h)in a registered pharmacy, an employee of that registered pharmacy acting in the course of their employment, requests P to remove their face covering in order to assist in the provision of healthcare or healthcare advice to P;
(i)a relevant person or a local authority officer requests that P remove their face covering.
(j)it is reasonably necessary for P to sing, and P removes P’s face covering to do so, and for these purposes, the occasions when it is reasonably necessary for P to sing include singing as part of a choir, or during a service or rehearsal, or for performance.
I suspect a (ii) is the most frequently invoked.