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"To our knowledge, there are no trials of cloth masks in the general public." https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m1435.long
"Compared to no masks there was no reduction of influenza-like illness (ILI) cases or influenza for masks in the general population, nor in healthcare workers" "harms were poorly reported" (preprint) https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.30.20047217v2
"The evidence is not sufficiently strong to support widespread use of facemasks as a protective measure against COVID-19." "Further high quality trials are needed to assess when wearing a facemask in the community is most likely to be protective(preprint)" https://europepmc.org/article/ppr/ppr139444
fully support doing what people want to do. but mandating/gov recommending needs based on evidence and addressing uncertainties seriously. again, asking questions/addressing this is not a hostile act
if as proposed use masks as part of way out of lockdown, you want to know this works, otherwise risk relying on an unreliable intervention. some of the accusations/inferences/belittling made to me in the last 48 hours are simply bizarre.
I am working in the NHS, I have family working in the NHS, I care about my patients and friends. It is because I care that I want to be as sure as I can that we are acting and making recommendations that are likely to benefit>harm and don't create unintended hazards. off to work.
