Legislation – The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Wearing of Face Coverings) (England) Regulations 2021
PART 2Requirement to wear a face covering: relevant places and public transport
Reasonable excuse5.
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)
(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.