Face coverings are already mandatory in shops in Scotland. This following is the advice taken from the Scottish Government website. I’m not sure if guidelines will be similar for you if they become mandatory in shops in England. I would think the first bullet point in the second section would include people with dementia. If my husband had still been alive I would have considered him in that category.
Face covering exemptions
Some people are not required to wear a face covering.
These include:
- children under 5 years of age
- police constables or workers such as paramedics acting in the course of their duty
- staff such as drivers or checkout assistants who are physically separated, by means of, for example, screens, from passengers or customers
- shop workers if they maintain a 2 metre distance from customers or members of the public
You may also have a reasonable excuse not to wear a face covering if, for example:
- you have a health condition or you are disabled and a face covering would be inappropriate because it would cause difficulty, pain or severe distress or anxiety or because you cannot apply a covering and wear it in the proper manner safely and consistently. Individual discretion should be applied in considering the use of face coverings for other children including, for example, children with breathing difficulties and disabled children who would struggle to wear a face covering
- you need to eat or drink
- you are taking medication
- you are communicating with someone else who relies on lip reading
- a relevant person, such as a police officer, asks you to remove your face covering
Seeing friends and family
Staying safe
First published:
13 Jul 2020Last updated:
13 Jul 2020 -
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