As Belgium obliges people to wear face masks on public transport and recommends them elsewhere to limit the spread of the coronavirus, people who are deaf or hard of hearing are calling for transparent masks to allow them to communicate with others, reports Reuters.
For people who are deaf or hard of hearing who rely on lip-reading to complement sign language, even buying an ice cream can be difficult, as shop assistants wear medical or home-made cotton masks that cover almost half the face.
“We are no longer able to read lips. It prevents communication,” said Marie-Florence Devalet of Belgium’s French-speaking deaf federation, saying it can add to the anxiety of living through a pandemic.
“When the mask is not see-through, it may worry fragile people, it disturbs them psychologically and it worries them,” she added.
Belgium, like other European countries, is slowly coming out of lockdown as the wave of transmission of the coronavirus eases, but donning masks is new to much of the population.
With green and white medical masks around the world in short supply, transparent masks are even harder to find. Some are advertised online but sometimes end up being face shields for the whole head and worn by medical staff in hospitals.
