Letters
Face masks for the public during covid-19
Urgency and uncertainty: covid-19, face masks, and evidence informed policy
BMJ 2020; 369 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m2017 (Published 26 May 2020) Cite this as: BMJ 2020;369:m2017
- Graham P Martin, director of research1,
- Esmée Hanna, reader in health and wellbeing in society2,
- Robert Dingwall, consulting sociologist and professor of sociology3
- 1Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Clifford Allbutt Building, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge CB2 0AH, UK
- 2Institute of Allied Health Sciences, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK
- 3Dingwall Enterprises and Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK
- graham.martin{at}thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk
As the covid-19 crisis deepens, Greenhalgh and colleagues say that policy makers should encourage the public to wear face masks.1 Given the urgency of the situation, they argue that any downsides to such a move would be heavily outweighed by the benefits. We think that the potential negative unintended consequences of a policy shift deserve more consideration.
First, the technical challenges in mass mask adoption should not be underestimated. Even healthcare workers can struggle with …
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