Facemasks a thread - on Friday we broadcast a film looking at some of the scientific debate around masks. I want to respond to some of the points made by @trishgreenhalgh on social media. I don’t usually do this but she is influential.
We absolutely told her it would include people who are critical about the evidence base and who they are before. I don’t have to do this but I recorded the process to ensure it was captured. She could have backed out at any point.
She tried to warn me off talking about the evidence saying people would die if I did that

This is not false balance. As I understand it, if there wasn’t equipoise why would there be an ongoing clinical trial in Denmark https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04337541
People with disabilities had contacted me to say they were worried about wearing face masks because of problems with hearing and sight. It is fair to include their concerns.
We had been told by various sources WHO committee reviewing the evidence had not backed masks but they recommended them due to political lobbying. This point was put to WHO who did not deny

We said some people think we should not wait for RCTs before putting policies in place
Trish is right we did not use all her interview. I did not use the part where she said lifting masks to eat/feed kids, putting them in pocket, wearing them around neck etc wasn’t a problem. I wasn't clear where evidence is for that and what infection control message it sends
I am muting this conversation because the hostility towards any discussion is rather unpleasant
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