Elderly woman to go on trial for not wearing mask told police ‘Covid only affects fat people’

Amanda Salmon refused to wear a mask in a shop, breaching Covid regulations

Ms Salmon is 74 (Malvern Gazette / SWNS)

An elderly woman ranted at police that Covid only affected “fat people who can’t handle the flu” when she refused to wear a mask in a shop, a court heard.

Amanda Salmon, 74, is accused of breaching coronavirus regulations when she entered a store without a face covering on 16 February.

JPs heard she was with another woman when she was reported for not wearing a mask at The Apothecary Shop, in Ledbury, Herefordshire.

Andy Saunders, prosecuting, said when the pensioner was confronted by officers she replied: “Covid is just fat people who can’t handle flu.”

Ms Salmon, who lives in the village of Much Dewchurch, Hereford, denies making the comment and described the allegation as “nonsense.”

She appeared at Worcester Magistrates Court on Wednesday to deny a charge of entering or remaining within a shop without wearing a face covering in breach of Health Protection Regulations 2020.

She will stand trial at the same court on 13 December.

SWNS