Friday, February 10, 2023

Yes, masks reduce the risk of spreading COVID, despite a review saying they don't

An updated Cochrane Review published last week is the latest to suggest face masks don't work in the community.

However there are problems with the review's methodology and its underpinning assumptions about transmission.

An RCT comparing occasional versus continuous use of respirators in health care workers showed N95 respirators and surgical masks were equally ineffective when only worn occasionally by hospital workers. They had to wear them all the time at work to be protected.

We also combined only apples and apples in a meta-analysis of two RCTs conducted in exactly the same way and measuring the same interventions and outcomes. We found N95 respirators provide significant protection against respiratory infections when surgical masks did not, even against infections assumed to be "droplet spread".

https://theconversation.com/yes-masks-reduce-the-risk-of-spreading-covid-despite-a-review-saying-they-dont-198992

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