The global pandemic that has suffered around the world and disrupted social life. It is more complicated for some sectors than for others. This is the case with blind people who have learned in everyday life to replace their eyes with touch with their hands. The new normal prevents them “see with your handsWhat they cannot see with their eyes.
Blind people can identify the textures of things they touch with their hands even when touching other people. The problem that prevailing social distancing causes in the blind is extremely dramatic for them.
The rule change in social behavior has literally excluded the blind from the system. The new normal demands that touch can be a point of contagion, and that is the main problem for a blind person.
The pandemic creates additional problems for the blind
An estimated calculation shows that around 250 million people in the world suffer from blindness. Many others suffer from a visual impairment that puts them in the same situation as the blind.
The uncertainty that visually impaired people have about the new measures of the pandemic is a mystery to them. The obstacles they encounter when taking to the streets are really insurmountable.
The guide dog makes life easier for the blind. It helps them become independent and self-sufficient. But not all blind people have a guide dog. Most of them only have the walking stick that identifies them and is only used to get around.
The social distancing resulted in supermarket salespeople not even walking up to them. And the same thing happens on the street or in shops, not to mention the fact that they cannot manipulate objects for fear of contamination.
The truth is that the limitations that the visually impaired typically have have increased exponentially. You cannot find anyone on the streets to help you cross an avenue or to guide you if you lose your bearings.
Possible solutions for the blind against Covid 19
The cities have been filled with stickers on the walls and floors telling what precautions to take or where to stop. But those who can’t see know where the line ends in supermarkets. It wouldn’t be bad at all to use sound signals to identify these places for the visually impaired.
Solutions to this problem are being sought in more developed countries: sounds or signals that blind people can perceive are added to warn something. As with the sound stairs.
This is a whole new situation that people still find it difficult to adjust to. However, this is even more restrictive for blind people or people with disabilities. All society should try to correct in some way.
