Editor:
A letter writer cautions Coasters against quitting mask-wearing. (“Closing our eyes won’t make COVID go away”) She talks about masks as a “tool we know works.” There’s been a lot of bloviating on both sides of the mask debate, but the latest science concludes that masks “make little or no difference to the outcome of influenza-like diseases, compared to not wearing masks.”
This conclusion is reached by the authors of “Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses,” published in January, 2023, by the respected Cochrane Library. They reviewed 78 randomized controlled trials to reach their verdict. Dr. John Campbell walks us through the report on his YouTube episode, “Masks, the jury returns.”
Handwashing as a strategy scored much better, say the authors of the report. For the record.
PJ Reece, Gibsons
