The link attached to "The best available evidence contradicts the narrative from the media and many public health officials" goes to an abstract that, yes, does say that it's not clear whether mask programs limit transmission of respiratory diseases. However, further down under "How reliable are these results?", it notes the following:
The link attached to "The best available evidence contradicts the narrative from the media and many public health officials" goes to an abstract that, yes, does say that it's not clear whether mask programs limit transmission of respiratory diseases. However, further down under "How reliable are these results?", it notes the following:
Relatively low numbers of people followed the guidance about wearing masks or about hand hygiene, which may have affected the results of the studies.
I've seen something similar in other studies that purport to contradict public health officials' support for masking: a study shows that mask requirements don't reduce spread of disease but also notes that many people in the study didn't mask and/or didn't use masks correctly or consistently.
Sure, I could see this as an argument for throwing up our hands and saying "Nobody will ever mask consistently or correctly so it's not worth bothering." But it could also be an argument that we need to figure out how to encourage people to do a better job of masking. What it certainly doesn't do is show that "masking doesn't work."
The link attached to "The best available evidence contradicts the narrative from the media and many public health officials" goes to an abstract that, yes, does say that it's not clear whether mask programs limit transmission of respiratory diseases. However, further down under "How reliable are these results?", it notes the following:
Relatively low numbers of people followed the guidance about wearing masks or about hand hygiene, which may have affected the results of the studies.
I've seen something similar in other studies that purport to contradict public health officials' support for masking: a study shows that mask requirements don't reduce spread of disease but also notes that many people in the study didn't mask and/or didn't use masks correctly or consistently.
Sure, I could see this as an argument for throwing up our hands and saying "Nobody will ever mask consistently or correctly so it's not worth bothering." But it could also be an argument that we need to figure out how to encourage people to do a better job of masking. What it certainly doesn't do is show that "masking doesn't work."