Liam O’Dell: Face masks are a nightmare for me, but they should stay after 19 July

It’s meant to sound rather exciting, isn’t it? On 19 July, so-called ‘Freedom Day’, we’re able to use our “personal judgement” as to whether we want to bin our face masks – something which has been the source of much contention ever since they became mandatory all those months ago.

You’d think I’d be relieved. One bit of cloth has made communication difficult, if not impossible for me as a Deaf person. They muffle the sounds of the speaker, prevent lipreading and if someone lowers their mask to help, they contaminate the inside of their mask. Surely I would welcome a return to accessible communication later this month? 

No, not just yet. In fact, I am terrified.

Terrified because the data shows that the cases are rising, and even though deaths from the disease are low, the more infected people means more bodies for the virus to mutate in, harming the efficacy of the vaccines. Scientists are also concerned.

Terrified because yes, we Deaf people may benefit by a reduction in masked individuals, but other disabled people won’t, and will be forced to shield again or limit time outside as a result.

Terrified about disabled people and others who are mask-exempt, and what it means for them when even more people are not wearing masks anymore. What will this mean for the Sunflower Lanyard which has been appropriated by anti-maskers?

Terrified about the inevitable culture war and divisions that will form over those who choose to wear masks, and those who don’t.

Terrified that the Deaf awareness that has come about from mask wearing will be forgotten with this move to some form of ‘normality’ before the pandemic.

Terrified that the current approach of just ‘living with the virus’ will kill many more disabled people, given that 60 percent of COVID deaths are disabled people.

Terrified that it also disregards the very real and very serious issue of long COVID – especially in children who still have no protection.

Call me paranoid all you like, but as a Deaf person who is keen to say goodbye to the piece of fabric as soon as it safe to do so, I don’t think the threshold for what is considered ‘safe’ has been reached yet.

In his Downing Street press conference on Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said maintaining current restrictions for longer could mean easing them in the winter (when viruses thrive) or not unlocking at all this year. That’s fine by me, and that’s the Government’s problem.

Wherever we stand on the debate around the measures in place, we can all think of one horrific and unforgivable mistake (out of many) that this Government has made since the pandemic began. Their repeated refusal to provide a BSL interpreter to their press briefings is one of them.

After yesterday’s announcement, I’m thinking back to other times where political decisions have left me feeling fearful and losing hope. The last time that happened was in December 2019.

Back then I had to think of how to make that anxiety useful; I chose to work even harder on my campaigning (and thanks to the Government for helping with that following #WhereIsTheInterpreter).

Now, as we’re handed the ‘freedom’ to make our own personal judgement again (because that went so well in 2016), we should exercise it in a way which best protects others, and throughout this pandemic, one of the best ways which has been suggested to do this is with face coverings. If you’re not doing it for your own peace of mind, do it to reassure our friends in the wider Deaf and disabled community.

Some may wonder when I would want things to reopen, and while I am no scientist, cases need to come down and vaccinations need to rise. There are also strong compromises being suggested – such as by Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, around face masks remaining mandatory on public transport. This isn’t a preposterous suggestion.

Of course, continuing to wear face coverings will pose barriers for Deaf people like me, but for me at least, that’s a price I’m willing to pay for keeping other people safe. I also think we’ve come some way in the past few months in terms of deaf awareness – especially given the two recent cases which have made their way to court.

In fact, Ian Noon, head of policy at the National Deaf Children’s Society, said in a statement: “Until face coverings are a thing of the past, we’d urge everyone speaking to a deaf person to be patient, think about different ways to communicate and show good deaf awareness.”

Throughout this pandemic, we’ve been told about how these measures require us to do our bit to protect others – a collective effort, as it were. Now, for the sake of our disabled friends, we must do so again, even if our Government may nudge us the other way.

Photo: Ollie Cole.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is a mildly deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He wears bilateral hearing aids and can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.