‘The case for masks became hugely stronger’: scientists admit their Covid mistakes
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ld-work-scientists-admit-their-covid-mistakes
Prof Susan Michie, director of the centre for behaviour change at University College London, changed her mind on the usefulness of masks
Early on, my reading was that the evidence on the effectiveness of face masks in community settings was equivocal. The emphasis on droplet transmission raised a concern that infected people may touch their face masks and then touch surfaces, thus providing a transmission route. The possibility of people behaving less cautiously as result of wearing face masks was also raised. Two things changed. When evidence showed that the major route for transmission was via aerosol rather than droplet, the case for masks became hugely stronger. There was also persuasive evidence from real-world studies, including one from German towns and one on cruise ships. This changed my mind from sitting on the fence to being strongly in favour of masks. I was asked on a TV programme how long we’ll be wearing masks. I said “for ever, to some extent”, and was cut off before I could elaborate that this would depend on the context and risk of infection. I had months of being trolled and attacked for saying this. But science continues to generate good evidence that masks reduce infection for Covid-19, an airborne virus.