I’ve made bold the Welsh Governments key points.
Masks
Welsh Government Advice
You do NOT need to wear a mask if:
You are not able to put on or to wear a face covering because of a physical or mental illness, or because of a condition or impairment or without severe distress.
You do not need to seek advice or request a letter from a medical professional about your reason for not wearing a face covering.
Respect and understanding should be shown to those who have good reasons not to wear face coverings.
Carrying an exemption card is a personal choice and is not necessary in law.
Masks
My Thoughts On Wearing A Mask
The bottom line here is if you feel that wearing a mask restricts your breathing, makes you panicky or simply enrages you beyond a level that you can contend with then you are exempt and can, without challenge, go about your business as long as you observe social distancing.
Prior to Covid 19 I was often to be seen wearing a ‘Buff’ or Neck Tube. I now don’t leave the house without one. I avoid all situations where wearing a mask is compulsory and when entering less crowded spaces I don’t wear a mask. However, when time is of the essence or I just can’t be arsed with a discussion or if a space is crowded and I know I’d get too much grief or that I would upset a few people I pull up my neck tube and look for all intent and purposes like I am about to rob a bank. I don’t want to make people feel uncomfortable but then for me seeing everyone around me in masks makes me extremely uncomfortable. I avoid those places as if they had the plague…
IF there were any evidence to show that flimsy cotton sheets helped stop the spread of disease I would be on shaky ground. But quite honestly, I’ve looked, and there is not. On the contrary there is plenty of evidence to prove that mask wearing is political rather than medically driven. Remember when the WHO and the UK Gov said there was no evidence that wearing masks reduced the spread of Covid 19? That is still the case. In fact the evidence against face covering wearing has grown.
And Greta must be screaming at us all for our abuse of the oceans. 1.5 billion face coverings are estimated to have made their way into the seas. And there are plenty more floating down rivers set to join them…
If face coverings do work, then you who are in fear of Covid, you ought to wear the mask. That will, in your world, keep you safe. Me, I’m not afraid of Covid and so I’m prepared to take ‘the risk.’ I am not endangering you as you have taken all of the advised actions to protect yourself.
Exercise
Welsh Government Advice
When Can I Leave Home?
You can only leave home if you have a “reasonable excuse” (see below).
You can exercise, alone or with members of your household or support bubble. This must be done locally unless there is a reason that would require driving to the nearest convenient location.
There are other reasons listed in the regulations why you can leave home if it is “reasonably necessary” and there is “no practicable alternative”.
to move home, to view a property
for work purposes,
These examples are not the only possible reasonable excuses for leaving home. It is not possible to identify in advance every possible reason someone might have to leave home. In order to act reasonably you must ask yourself what other careful people would do if they were in your shoes. Whether or not it would be reasonable to undertake a particular activity would depend on the surrounding circumstances, including how long you would be away from home for, how far you had to travel, the likelihood of interaction with others and the risk of transmission of the disease as well as why the activity is necessary and cannot reasonably be deferred until Alert level 4 restrictions have been lifted or carried out in a way that does not involve you leaving home.
In each case it would be for you to form your own judgement about whether the particular circumstances justified making the journey, despite the need to avoid transmission of Coronavirus, and it would be for the police to decide if those circumstances provided a reasonable excuse.
Exercise
There are no limits on the distance you can travel during exercise, though the nearer you stay to your home, the better. Your exercise should start and finish from your home and generally, this should not involve people driving to a location away from home. However, we recognise that some people, such as those with specific health or mobility issues, may need to travel from their home in order to exercise.
Work
People who are not able to work from home, but are able to work safely in their workplaces, can do so, provided their workplace remains open.
Exercise
My Thoughts On Walking
I like walking. It’s what I do for relaxation, for mental health and for my dogs health. However, it is first and foremost my job, my main source of income, through the provision of guided walks.
I therefore have a reasonable excuse to drive to go walking. I need to be and remain fitter than the vast majority of those that I am leading. I need to be able to walk double the distance or at speed if I am to effect rescues or gain assistance in the case of an accident or emergency on the hill.
I am unable to work from home. The mountains are my workplace. For me to maintain my fitness, develop new walks, develop walk resources for future use, and access and consolidate walk information, photos and ideas for my forthcoming mountain walking in Wales guidebook I truly need to be out there in them there hills.
I therefore believe, and it is believe as the law has been made deliberately wooly in order to effect police intimidation and arbitrary fining, that I am wholly entitled to drive from my house and to go for a walk on the hill.
I challenge anyone to prove that I am not.