Letters
Face masks for the public during covid-19
Covid-19: Important potential side effects of wearing face masks that we should bear in mind
BMJ 2020; 369 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m2003 (Published 21 May 2020) Cite this as: BMJ 2020;369:m2003
- Antonio Ivan Lazzarino, director1,
- Andrew Steptoe, professor of psychology and epidemiology2,
- Mark Hamer, professor of sport and exercise medicine2,
- Susan Michie, professor of health psychology2
- 1EPISTATA, Agency for Clinical Research and Medical Statistics, London E8 3SY, UK
- 2University College London, UK
- a.lazzarino{at}ucl.ac.uk
In their editorial Greenhalgh et al advise that surgical masks should be worn in public to prevent some transmission of covid-19,1 adding that we should sometimes act without definitive evidence, just in case. Two side effects of wearing face masks in public have already been highlighted:
Wearing a mask may give a false sense of security and make people adopt a reduction in compliance with other important infection control measures1
People must avoid touching their masks and adopt …