Mask FRAUD
#SettledScience
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2006372
“We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection. The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal.”
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2006372
It’s also clear masks serve symbolic roles. Masks also talismans that may help health workers’ perceived sense of safety &trust in hospitals. Though such reactions may not be logical, we are all subject to fear &anxiety, especially during times of crisis.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2020836
We did state in the article that “wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection,” but as the rest of the paragraph makes clear, we intended this statement to apply to passing encounters in public spaces, not sustained interactions within closed environments.